MAC Cosmetics Powder Blush Harmony Blush review + swatch

Helloooo! Today's review is for the MAC Harmony Blush which is part of their powder blushes. It is described as a "muted rose-beige brown" and it is a matte blush. I bought this because YouTube beauty guru Tanya Burr described this as a great contour colour so I decided to try it.

I have light-medium skin tone (around NC25) so I find that this blush has too much pink tone in it to be good for contouring. In my opinion, this does not have enough brown in it to be a good contour powder. Instead of for contouring, I often use it as regular blush on the apples of my cheeks and I think that this way provides a slimming effect for me.

It is $25 for 6g so on the pricey side but as with other MAC products, it is a good product. It has great pigmentation and lasts for a few hours. Since it is so pigmented though, it is easy to overdo it with this blush. I also think it is more of a winter colour since it is so dark. This product didn't really work out the way I wanted but I've been reading reviews saying that Blunt is a good contour shade, so I might try that next!

Swatch without flash

Wish flash

Happy Tuesday!

Julep Maven Bombshell Welcome Box Review

I finally gave in and decided to join the Julep Maven subscription bandwagon! They have a code for your first box free (code: FREEBOX) so that also tempted me. For those of you interested, you first take the quiz to find out what your style profile is and if you don't like it, you can choose to change it. I got Classic with a Twist but I preferred Bombshell so that was the box I got :) You can take the quiz using my referral link.

This welcome box comes with 2 nail polishes (Kendra and Zelda) and the Mighty Nail & Cuticle Serum. For some reason, my box came with the colour Jane instead of Zelda so I emailed Julep about it. My box also came with a 50% off welcome code and some free buffer blocks.

Before signing up for Julep Maven, I received an email saying that I could get choose from a selection to get 2 free polishes with the code FREEGIFT. I chose Lizanne and Harriet and then got Myriam for the $4.99 add-on. Since I wasn't a Maven yet, I had to pay for shipping and the add-on but this entire order ended up being just $14.99! This ended up being in U.S. dollars so with the exchange rate, I was charged $16.87.

Harriet - Guava coral crème
Lizanne - Sea green shimmer
Kendra - Army green frost
Jane - Full-coverage rose gold multi-dimensional glitter
Myriam - Casino red crème

 

Left to right: Harriet, Lizanne, Kendra, Jane, Myriam

I swatched Harriet, Lizanne, and Kendra but not the other 2 because I think I will be either giving them away or trying to sell them. The formula is really nice and requires 2 coats to be opaque but it is not as 'fast drying' as it claims.

I really like the concept of the 'Swatch Me!' sticker at the top! These polishes have an overcap so that's where the sticker is. My only issue with these Julep polishes are that the packaging seems very excessive. Each polish comes in a cardboard box and then these boxes also come in a sleeve. I understand that this probably helps with shipping, but I think they should just use the sleeves and skip the individual boxes.

Besides the mix-up with the Jane and Zelda polishes, I like the ones I got. Another good thing about this box is that you can see what you can see what's in each box before hand and change which box you will be getting. Mavens also get 20% off at www.julep.com and free shipping :) If you would like to join, feel free to use my referral link to take the style profile quiz!

Topbox April 2014 Review

This is my 3rd Topbox so far and unlike the last one, I have mixed feelings about this box. I put the dermalogica Privé box on my Topbox wishlist but ended up with the regular Topbox again. Also a bit disappointed that I didn't get the Murale box but oh well. For those that aren't subscribed, Topbox is a montly beauty subscription box that lets you "get 4 hand picked deluxe samples delivered to your door for $12 per month."

Products:
- LA Splash Nail Spash in Mystique (full size - $7.50)
- Thierry Muglar Alien Eau Extraordiaire (6 mL - $7)
- Sweet Pea Soap Honey & Oats (half size? - 2.98)
- Miracle 10 Skincare Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30 (50 mL - $38)

I'm happy with the Miracle 10 since it is a full size and I don't currently have a face sunscreen for the summer! I'll be trying this within the next few weeks to see how it does :) The SPF could be a bit higher but even a bit of SPF is already good enough, right?

The Alien perfume is decently sized but it is one of those dab type applications. I'm not really sure how those smaller 3 mL samples can have a spray application, but a slightly bigger bottle doesn't :/ Another downside is that I'm sensitive to stronger perfumes so I'm not sure what to do with this.

I also have mixed feelings about the nail polish because I have a similar colour and it seems a bit too shimmery for my liking. This will probably be gifted but it does seem like a wearable colour.

And lastly, I really like the soap! It contains almond fragrance so it smells sweet and nutty but there is also a hint of something else to tone it down (probably the oats). The soaps on their site don't seem as small so this probably isn't a full size but the ingredients seem like it could be a nice, moisturizing soap. Ingredients: coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, castor oil, distilled water, sodium, hydroxide, honey, oatmeal, and almond fragrance oil.

Total Value: $55.48
Paid: $13.56

This box was definitely a great value! Despite 2 of the products not really matching my tastes, I got a full sized product I think I will actually use so this was still a fairly valuable box to me. What did you get in your April Topbox?

Sephora VIB Sale 2014 15% off

For those other Sephora VIBs out there, today is the start of the VIB Early Access Event where all in store and online purchases are 15% off! Today is also the only day to get the limited-edition cosmetic bag (in-store) :)

VIBs should have gotten an email a few days ago so check that one to get your in-store coupon, or use the promo code VIBTICKET for online orders. The offer is good April 3 - 11th. I'm not sure if this is replacing the usual 'Chic Week' but I really hope not and that they will have the sale later on for regular Beauty Insiders. I think VIBs can also bring a friend so make sure to share the love with other beauty lovers out there :D

I've been anticipating this sale for a while so I already have a wishlist compiled ;)

- Urban Decay Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush

- Ole Henriksen Cleansing Clothes: Oil-Free Pore Refining

- Tarte Clean Slate Poreless 12-Hr Perfecting Primer

- Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo or Perfect Brow Pencil

- Benefit Cosmetics Posietint

- Ole Henriksen Walnut Complextion Scrub

- Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup

Has anyone tried any of these products before and if so, how did you like them? What's on your wishlist for this sale? :)

Holika Holika Holy Berry Tint No. 1 Strawberry swatch + review

This was a spontaneous purchase as I was in Pacific Mall. I first heard about this brand from Jen frmheadtotoe so of course, that made me tempted to try something from there. I've been looking for possible dupes for Benefit Cosmetic's benetint and posietint for a while now so I was curious about Holika Holika's tints. It was also only $10 so it didn't seem too expensive to me.

Holika Holika is a Korean cosmetics brand and Holy Berry Tint in No. 1 Strawberry is a red-pink lip tint that is very highly pigmented. It is a liquid type tint and looks a lot darker in the bottle than it is on lips. Like most good tints, this does not dry out your lips and can be used for layering under other products. It comes with a doe-foot applicator so it is easy to apply too much product but at the same time, it gives you a lot of control. The applicator gives enough control so that you can easily create effects like gradient lips.

One downside for me is that it has a very artificial berry flavour that is too strong for my liking. It also tastes a bit like the smell. The packaging also makes me hesitant to bring it around in my makeup bag since I heard it could unscrew and leak so I always keep it in the little plastic bag I received with it.

In terms of the wear, it is a bit waterproof but fades quite a bit whenever I drink water. I'd say that it lasts for 2-3 hours if you are eating and drinking, but even longer if you don't. It goes on semi-opaque and can be built up for opaque and bold colour. It is a nice tint but because of the smell and lasting power, I probably will just buy benetint or another type of tint. I'll just finish off with a swatch:

This is available on eBay for as $5.40 and up.

Loose Button Luxe Box Spring 2014 review

So to add to my ever expanding collection of makeup/hair/skin care products, I purchased a 2 season subscription to Loose Button's Luxe Box for $25+tax/box (shipping included). Unlike most beauty subscriptions, Luxe Box comes every 3 months and comes with "7 to 8 trial sized beauty and lifestyle discoveries". There are 3 membership options so that you can pay $24 - 26 for each box, depending on your membership. The one I have for review is the Spring 2014 Luxe Box.

Each Luxe Box is a nice rectangular white box that is super sturdy and the products comes in a silky white dust bag. I wasn't expecting the box to be so sturdy so I was surprised, but glad because I now have something for nail polish storage! Now onto the products:

- essie sleek stick in oh my gold! (full size - $11)

- teeez trendy cosmetics Paradise Perfect Lipgloss in sheer gold (full-size - unknown price)

- Fekkai PrX Reparatives Conditioner with Argan Extract (59 mL - $5)

- Fekkai PrX Reparatives Shampoo with Argan Extract (59 mL - $5)

- Lancome Genefique Youth Activating Concentrate (8 mL - trial)

- Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion (28 mL - trial)

- Knotties (4 hair ties - unknown price)

Close up on the teeez lipgloss:

 

And essie sleek stick:

The total value of this box doesn't seem too high but I'm sure it is greater than what I paid ($28.25).

I'm okay with the Fekkai, Lancome, Essie, and Aveeno products but I'm not too crazy about the others. The Essie sleek stick is a nice design of gold hexagons and I actually like that I didn't get a bottle of nail polish since I have way too many of those. The Fekkai and Lancome are a decent size but since the Aveeno is a body lotion, I feel like it should be a bit larger.

I'm a bit worried about the teeez lip gloss because plumping products usually hurt, and I don't really need bigger lips, or the pain. I wish I had gotten a gloss with colour or one of their nail lacquers instead.The hair ties are the most disappointing product since you can get those anywhere and at a cheap price.

My next Luxe Box is the Summer 2014 box coming in June so hopefully that one will be better!

Topbox March 2014 Review

Even after the disaster that was the December 2013 Ipsy Glam Bag, I decided to give it a go with another subscription box, Topbox. I signed up around November but only got off the wait list in February. Topbox is a Toronto-based beauty subscription so yay for Canadian pride :)

I did receive the February 2014 Topbox but didn't have time to review it so here's my review for the March 2014 box:

 

- Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair (7 mL)

- belvada cosmetics Blackhead Facial Mask (8 ml) x 2

- Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey (unknown weight)

- Benefit Cosmetics the POREfessional (3 mL)

Here's a close up on the Clinique product:

I'm really impressed with this month's Topbox! The brands are great and I actually want to try these things :) (I gave the Estee Lauder to my mom though) The Clinique Almost Better Lipstick is one of my favourites because I was looking into it a few months ago so at least now I have a sample to help me decide. I'm also looking forward to the POREfessional because I am in need of a new primer so this will help in my decision!

I added the Glamglow Privé box to my wish list this month so I'm a bit disappointed I didn't receive it, but the regular Topbox this month was still pretty great.

With taxes, Topbox comes to $13.56 a month with the option of a $10 full-sized mystery beauty item.