Marc Jacobs Beauty.....The review...

Ever since the sneak peek and buzz of this product launch all the way to the premier at a few personally hand picked by Marc Jacobs' Sephora location, it has garnered tons and tons of high expectations from beauty bloggers, gurus, beauty enthusiasts and beauty addicts in general, I mean it's Marc Jacobs for goodness' sake.
So after the highly anticipated launch, I didn't ran out the door to line up at the sephora or anything but I did go and swatched for my skin tone and brought home the Genius Gel Foundation in Deep Beige, which oxidized on me and didn't really last as long as I wanted it to. I have always opted for a more full coverage base and I found this to be of a medium to buildable medium+. Texture is really nice, it has a cooling effect when yo first apply it on your skin and glides on easily using a dense synthetic fiber brush, It's my preferred method of application to get that airbushed finish look. If you have sensitive nose and scent in your foundation bothers you, this foundation does have a sort of perfume scent to it but it does dissipate after the foundation dries on your skin and I don't mind smell so it was ok for me. I do love the fact that it has a pump to avoid product contamination. I mean the packaging on ALL of the line is just soooo luxe and sleek with glossy black and chrome finish.....BUT with a glossy finish, also comes finger prints so cleaning cloths are definitely a must in your vanity :)

Other items that I have definitely fallen inlove with are the Style Eye-Con palettes....OMG I can't even begin to describe how buttery soft and so easy to blend these pigmented shadows are, I am still on the fence with the $59 price tag on it but clearly did not stop me from owning 2 and gifted with 1 for my bday along with a couple of brushes (which will talk about in a few after I rave about this shadow palettes..) I purchased the more colorful palettes which are The Vamp and The Starlet and was gifted the Tease for my bday (I'm sure the name did not influence the purchase, at least I'd like to believe so anyway lol) I didn't pick up the Lolita (the most neutral of the collection) because I feel like I have so many neutral palettes in my arsenal already (Naked & Naked 2, TooFaced ect..) not to mention Naked 3 is coming out and I think I would much rather spend $52 on one of my favorite mid-range brand with 12 pan palette as opposed to 7.

Along with this haul, I had to try the LoveMarc Lip Gel (lipstick) and Lust for Lacquer Gloss, but again with a $30 (lipstick) and $28 (lipgloss) price tag, I only grabbed 2 lip glosses and a lipstick. Which I am glad because I don't think I am that impressed with the lipstick formulation, I much prefer their lip lacquer as I found it to be more opaque and pigmented which is weird usually it's the other way around.

Another thing I was talked into purchasing is the Highliner Gel Crayon, I have been on an eternal search for a liner that can withstand my sensitive, watery eyes and won't let any liner slip and fade on my waterline and the sales adviser swears that this does not move/budge so of course I got it...And it's a FAIL for me, I loved it on the upper and lower lash line but when applied on my waterline, it definitely did not stay...ugh...the search continues...

Ok, the most splurge that I would probably not purchase for my self are the luxe Face and Blush Brushes that were gifted to me for my birthday.... I have a plethora of brushes at different price point ranging from ulta, sephora, mac, sigma and other brands but this have got to be the most expensive brushes I've owned even the couple of chanels that I cherish-I don't remember them costing as much lol, at $48 (Facebrush) and $38 (blush brush) per brush I definitely have never fathomed spending that much on a single brush or maybe buy it on special occasion days lol, we shall see... either way, I'm grateful nonetheless...

Welp, that concludes my Marc Jacobs Beauty review of the items I have in this collection.
Have you tried any of Marc Jacobs Beauty collection? Which ones did you splurge on? Do share :)
Comment with your thoughts below or email with any queries, don't forget to share & socialize with me on twitter, instagram and facebook ......stay beauty-full :)

Lancôme Dreamtone Update....

It's been a little over a month when I posted my haul of the Lancome Dreamtone and tested it out with my skin care regimen. I have been a long time fan of the brand as it is so it's always exciting to see new launches from this line specially with their skin care.
UPDATE:
It was suggested to use the dreamtone twice a day with morning and evening regimen but I have strayed a bit from that and only used it at night and used the Lancome Visionnaire in the day time. I mean I probably would have seen better result with twice a day usage but I am quiet happy with the result it gave me with just using it at night.
Let's talk texture, It is very similar to the Visionnaire texture as well as familiar note on the scent. It has a light, creamy serum texture with pearl particles of some sort.
It did brighten up my skin and evened out my skin tone and I don't really have any problem with elasticity (yet) so I can't really comment on that claim but I would like to think that it has helped my skin retain elasticity to delay the aging process.
I don't know about daring to bare my skin just yet but with continuous usage, I hope by the time 2014 comes around I would be lol..
**Reason I only used this at night is because of the lightening agent that helps with evening out the skin tone, I didn't want to use it in the day time when the sun is hitting my face even with spf and moisturizer on top of it.**

2013 Holiday Releases....Part III

2013 Holiday Releases parte tres continues...

SMASHBOX [Wondervision Mega Palette, Wondervision Eye Set, Wondervision Lip Gloss Set, Must Have Metalics, Wondervision Brush Sets]
 
Nothing breaths holidays like kaleidoscopic palettes, shimmers and sparkly packaging, At least that's what translates to me at first glance from Smashbox's Collections.
My most favorite of the bunch is of course the Wondervision Mega Palette ($49) which is an Ulta exclusive I believe, at least it's where I saw it anyway. This mega palette contains 30 eye shadows, 3 blushers and 1 bronzer, imagine the endless looks you can create from this palette alone and will probably last you a very loooong time, (I still have my palette from 2011 and I have barely made a dent on it..) For the price I think it's an amazing deal. This collection also features 3 Wondervision Eye Set ($32) with 3 ranges to choose from, Sparks (Coral & Gold tones), Cosmic (Blues & Aqua hues) and Flash (Pinks and Peaches hues) these sets includes a hexagon  compact of 6 eye shadows, 1 full size mascara and a full size black eye liner.
Complementing the Eye Set, they also feature the Wondervision Lip Gloss Set ($24) includes, 5 limited edition lip enhancing glosses that ranges from pink, peach, neutral, plum and berry red.
Of course holiday is not complete without the Must Have Metalics set ($39) Choose from Rose Gold or Chic Copper hues, this kit contains 1 fusion soft light cheek shimmer, 1 Photo Op Trio, 1 Shadow brush and 1 Lip enhancing Gloss.
Finally, with all these shadows and blushes in these palettes, you're going to need brushes right? Check out the Wondervision Brush Set ($60) it contains 5 full size chrome plated brushes and a brush clutch to hold it all. Brushes- Powder brush, blending brush, crease brush, shadow brush and a dual ended liner brush.

STILA [Masterpiece Series Eyes and Cheek Palette, Portrait of A Perfect Eye, Color Outside the Line liner set, Art of fine Line set, Color Me Pretty Lip/Cheek Palette, BB Try Me Trio Beauty to go, Portrait of a Perfect Blush, Portrait of a Perfect Pout, Color Me Glossy, Tools of the Trade Brush Set]

This is probably my least favorite release, I love the artist theme but I feel like the collection lacks the oomph of the season but here it is anyway...aside from the masterpiece series, the rest are great stocking stuffers for the beauty lover in your list :)
Masterpiece Series Eyes and Cheek Palette ($39) Contains 3 themed palettes (Minimalist, Impressionist and Modernist) which each contains 5 shadows and 1 blush.
Color Outside the Lines Smudge Stick ($34) Set of 5 waterproof eye liner.
Art of Fine Line Liquid Liner Set ($39) This is a Sephora exclusive and it is a set of 4 waterproof liquid liner in deluxe sizes except for the black one which is a full size.
Portrait of a Perfect Eyes ($16) A palette of 6 neutral eye shadow shades.
Portrait of a Perfect Blush ($16) palette of 5 powder blushers
Portrait of a Perfect Pout ($16) Option of a Neutral or a more Vibrant palette of 6 creamy lip colors.
Color Me Glossy Lip Glaze Set ($28) 9 Full size lip glaze in assorted hues and flavor.
Color Me Pretty Lip and Cheek Palette ($28) Contains 5 creamy cheeks and lip tints.
BB Try Me Trio Beauty To Go ($24) This is a trio of BB Cream, BB Illuminating Cream and BB Illuminating Bronzer in deluxe sizes.
Tools of the Trade Brush Set ($28) A much cheaper alternative than the latter Smashbox set and contains the same amount of brush. Powder brush, Allover shadow brush, Concealer bruh, Allover blending brush and a Precision eye liner brush housed in an uber cute canister.

For the sake of not making these posts too long, the series of holiday releases will probably consume most of this week's posts. :)
Have you picked up any of the holiday releases yet? What did you get? Are you gifting any of these items?
Comment with your thoughts below or email with any queries, don't forget to share & socialize with me on twitter, instagram and facebook ......stay beauty-full :)

TIPS-Y Friday; Do NOT go to bed with your makeup...

See why it's important to wash your face before you go to bed, whether you wore makeup or not, you should always wash your face! No excuses!

Would you do this experiment yourself?
Comment with your thoughts below or email with any queries, don't forget to share & socialize with me on twitter, instagram and facebook ......stay beauty-full :)

2013 Holiday Releases....Part II

Jumping right into part deux of this holiday releases... The same goes from part 1, This is not a review of any of the products, if you would like a more in-depth review of any of the products that I own in their respective collection, please leave a comment below.

TOO FACED [Joy To The Girls, A Few Of My Favorite Things, Be Merry & Bright, All I Want For Christmas, Jingle All The Way]

This year's collection was a collaboration between the minds of Too Faced Co-Founder Jarrod Blandino and his friend celebrity decorator Mary McDonald, hence the artsy, chevron designs flowing through the packaging of this year's collections.

I was personally indecisive on which on whether picking up the A Few of my Favorite Things set ($56) which was a Sephora exclusive and contains 20 shadows, 2 Bronzers, 2 Blushes, a deluxe size of their Better Than Sex Mascara and 1 Lip Injection color bomb lipstick pencil, but the defining factor eventually came to me already owning a full size of the BTS mascara, and was not too keen about my lips burning with the lip injection stick pencil (I mean serious burning, not your average tingle) I opted for the Joy To The Girls palette ($46) instead with 15 shadows and 1 full size LashGasm mascara. Nothing too exciting but I believe all the shadows in these collections are all limited edition shades. Another one that caught my radar from this collection is the exclusive one for Ulta, which is the Be Merry, Be Bright palette ($45) which comes with a cute chevron clutch that houses the palette containing 12 shadows, 2 Blushes, 2 Bronzers and 1 mascara. My least favorite from this collection would probably be the All I Want For Christmas set ($45) this comes with 1 deluxe size eye liner, 1 trio of 2 shadows and a blush, 1 mascara, shadow insurance primer and a lip stick. The Jingle All The Way ($25) on the other hand is uber cute and I definitely think is a great stocking stuffer, It is an iphone mock up palette containing 11 shadows, 1 bronzer and 1 blush perfect for on the go :)

LORAC [Rockin Red Hot- Lashes Set, 3D Liquid Lustre Set, Lip Gloss Collection, Mini Lip Gloss Collection, Eye Shadow and Lip Gloss Set, PRO Set]

So this year, while I am digging the Rockin' Red Hot theme, I was kind of disappointed with Lorac's collection, there were only 2 sets that I personally would purchase and that would be the  Rockin Red Hot PRO Set ($39) which has the PRO Palette, PRO Liquid Eye Liner and the Scenes Eye Primer and I already own the palette so it's really moot to even add this to the 2 that I would purchase so I guess technically I would only purchase the Rockin Red Hot 3D Liquid Lustre Set ($28) I already own the platinum that comes in this set but the other 3 are limited edition colors and I love these lusters, but of course the one I wanted is sold out so yeah needless to say I haven't bought any of this year's collection from Lorac. Anyhow, the other rockin addition to this collection are the Rockin Red Hot Lip Gloss Collection ($27) with 6 Full Size Antioxidant Lip Glosses, Rockin Red Hot Mini Lip Gloss Collection ($24) which would make for a great stocking stuffer for that gloss lover in your list or the Rockin Red Hot Lashes Set ($23) consist of the PRO mascara and Lash curler. This one Rockin Red Hot Eye Shadow and Lip Palette Set ($25) is a Kohl's exclusive, it contains a lip palette (7 cream and 3 Lip Glosses) and a palette of 10 matte and shimmer shadows, Great buy if you ask me :)

BENEFIT [Countdown To Love Advent Calendar, It's A Love Fest, Show Me Love! Best of Benefit, Little Love Potions, Luv It Up Color Kit, Groovy Kind of Love, Love At First Shine Gloss Set]

Benefit's Holiday collection seems to be themed around LOVE :) and as much as I love Benefit and their boxed powders (I know off topic here lol) I really didn't "Love" any of this season's collections either, I mean probably because I own the ones I already love and most of the she collections are all sample sizes of what I already have :/ But for those who are just discovering their love for Benefit, these are great sets to have and try out before committing to the full sizes :)
Starting with probably the most expensive one of the bunch is the uber creative Countown to Love Advent Calendar ($68), This contains 24 mini beauty treasures inside each day box (with my impatient self, I would not be making it to day 24, this would be un-boxed at day 1 lol). The rest of the collection with more deluxe/mini sizes are Groovy Kind Of Love ($36) containing minis of POREfessional primer, They're Real Mascara, Benetint, Dandelion & Gimee Fever powder duo + brush and a palette of 4 eye shadows with a double ended sponge applicator. Next on the $36 price scale is the Show Me Love! Best of Benefit ($36) this one actually contains a full size of They're Real Mascara, Benetint and a mini POREfessional primer in a tin canister. It's A Love Fest ($36) another tin canister set with a full size POREfessional primer, mini Coralista Gloss, SunBeam and a full size They're Real Mascara. Another mini-full set is the Little Love Potion ($36) All Minis of POREfessional primer, It's Potent Eye Cream, High Beam, Posietint, Stay Don't Stray (Light-Med) shadow primer, Watts Up, Bad Gal Mascara, That Gal, Hoola Bronzer, Ultra Plush Lip Gloss. For another stocking stuffer favorite, we have Love At First Shine Gloss Set ($26) which contains 6 Ultra Plush Lip Glosses, or the Luv It Up Color Kit ($25) with 3 long wearing shadows, 1 mini creaseless cream shadow and 1 mini Lip Gloss.

Okay all that minis, chevrons and reds concludes the part deux of this Holiday Releases :)
Which collections caught your eyes on this episode?!??! I'd love to see what's on your wish list, Do share below :)
Comment with your thoughts below or email with any queries, don't forget to share & socialize with me on twitter, instagram and facebook ......stay beauty-full :)

2013 Holiday Releases....Part I

Aside from the actual holiday festivities and plethora of food to consume, my other favorite indulgence are the holiday product releases from every single beauty brands, I get so overwhelmed with the options and most of the time have trouble deciding which one to get and which ones to pass on. (If it were up to me, I'd buy every single one of them and I would be set for the whole year...NOT, who am I kidding right?!??!) Anyhow, here are some releases for this year, I will try and be as detailed with the items and my thoughts on whether to pass or a must have. Oh might be worth mentioning that I usually stock up on palettes around this time as it makes the most sense and not to mention cheaper than buying a ton of singles and sometimes, brands usually releases limited colors and/or palette combos. All these products are available at Ulta, Sephora, Department Counters, respective brand websites.
URBAN DECAY [Vice 2 Palette, Shattered Face Case, Anarchy Face Case, Ocho Loco 2 Glide-On Eye Pencil, Black Market Glide-On Eye Pencil]
I reviewed the Vice 2 Palette when I purchased it back in October and may be seen here. Loved it and formulation has definitely improved from their past releases. I have not had the chance to review the other 2 Face Cases, which comes with 5 Shadows, 2 Cheek colors and a highlighter, 1 Full Size High Gloss Lip Color and 1 Travel Size Glide-On Eye Pencil in a cute compact "Face Case" :)
My overall impression on these Face Cases, It's about $15 less than the cost of the Vice 2 Palette ($59) and you're probably thinking, "wth I might as well cough up the extra 15 and get the Vice 2 with 20 shadows" right?!? but one must consider both purchase and what you wanted out of the palette, if you want an All-In-One palette to create a full face coverage, (sans the foundation) or if you'd rather have all shadows. Either way, I think it's a great buy and the packaging are so adorably chic. (Comment below if you'd like a more in-depth review of the face case) The Face Cases will definitely make for a great stocking stuffer for the beauty lover in your list.

On to the Glide-On Eye Pencils, UD had 2 sets released for Fall/Holiday which are the Ocho Loco 2 ($59), which contains 8 Glide-On Pencils with 5 exclusive shades for the holiday and a Grindhouse double barrel sharpener. Along with this release, UD also came out with the Black Market Glide-On Eye Pencil ($36) release which include 6 travel size eye pencil with 5 of which are limited edition color. I passed on these liners because I have enough high end liners in my collection already and I feel that I can find just as good liners in the high street/drugstore  brands, but if you are an UD Liner collector, these may be an awesome buy for you (if they're still available..yikes) In fairness, these liners are super pigmented, creamy and long wearing so I guess the price tag may be justifiable for some and if you break it down to per piece, you are saving quiet a bit as 1 eye liner is usually about $20 so breaking it down, you're paying less than $7.50/liner. Again, personal preference :)

 

LAURA MERCIER Holiday 2013 Collection [Petite Baked Eye Colour, Luxe Colour Wardrobe Dual Decker, Color to Go Palette, Artist Palette-just to name a few)
This release is one of my favorite brand but this holiday release, I was only able to pick up the Artist Palette ($48), which I believe is exclusive to Sephora. I love the buttery soft, easy to blend shadows in this palette and the uber luxe case it comes with. I also wanted to pick up the Luxe Colour Wardrobe Dual Decker ($125) but that price tag is just....but almost worth it when you try to break down the price of each item in it...yes, trying to justify and convince my self lol..This Dual Decker consists of 8 Eyeshadows, 3 Tightline Cake liner, 2 Cheek colors, 1 Highlighter, 1 Eye Pencil and I think 3 brushes.
Petite Baked Eye Colours ($25) are so adorably cute and so pigmented. They have 3 Trios of Amethyst, Bronze and Emerald, Not bad for $25 each trio :)
Along with these releases of Color To Go cheek palette, Line and Define Creme Pencils and a set of Mini Lip Glace, LM also came out with sets of bath and body luxury products ranging from body wash, creams and candles.

NARS [One Night Stand Cheek Palette, Nars Splendorn In the Grass, Cosmetic Pochette, Fling Lip Pencil Set, Crime Passion Face Kit, Voyeur Eyeliner Set, Beautiful Stranger Nail Set, Promiscuous Mini Lip Pencil]
This has got to be one of my more exciting release to indulge in. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE Nars and regardless of how controversial Guy Bourdin is, that's besides the point, I love the palettes and I guess they could have toned down the names but umm ok who wouldn't want Deep Throat in their collection right?!!? lol... Anywhoo, just like the rest of the releases, I only purchased a few items that I thought were a key items, I mean all of them are key items if you ask me but...my pocket disagrees evidently.. so I picked up the Guy Bourdin One Night Stand Cheek Palette ($65), 3 of the Cinematic Lipstick ($26) in Goodbye Emmanuelle, Future Red and Full Frontal, Of course I had to pick up Exhibit A  ($29) just because it's such an "in-your-face" color but really nice color to warm up any cheek tones, and Splendor in the Grass ($49)palette. The rest of the Collection are, Cosmetic Pochette ($75) , which is just an Italian leather makeup pouch, ummm a bit pricey for what it is if you ask me for just a pouch, I'd rather get one of the 3 Pouches ($45) that contains the Promisuous Mini Lip Pencils, the Crime of Passion Face Kit ($59) which contains pretty much your essential needs of 1 Gloss, 3 Shadows, 1 Blush and 1 Bronzer or Fling Lip Pencil Set ($49) containing 2 Lip Pencil and 2 Lipsticks in an oh so adorable lips shaped case. This Collection also features, the Beautiful Stranger Nail Set ($35) with 4 Limited edition colors. Again, let me know if you would like an in-depth review of any of the ones I have from this collection :)

TARTE [Best of Lash Set, Tarte of Giving Collectors Set & Travel Bag, Thoughtful Treasures Best Sellers, Off the Cuff Blush Palette]
I just love Tarte, They usually come out with some of the best collections every year and this year is no different. They have definitely produced some of my daily staple products. For this collection, My faves have got to be the Off the Cuff Blush Palette ($42), I just adore the chic cuff bracelet and of course their blushes (One of my go-to blushes, aside from Nars) This palette contains 4 amazingly pigmented 12 Hour Amazonian Clay blushes and 1 Bronzer. Another fave from this collection has got to be the Tarte of Giving Collector's Set & Travel Bag ($59) which is the motherload of this season's collection in my opinion, I mean for the price, you get a travel bag with 20 limited edition buttery soft, super pigmented Amazonian clay eye shadows (did I mention 20?) 8 Deluxe maracuja lip glosses, 1 Deluxe maracuja oil, 1 Deluxe limited edition Amazonian clay blush, 1 Deluxe maracuja C brighter eye cream, 1 Deluxe cheek stain and 1 Deluxe Lights, Camera Lashes mascara, I mean just add on your brushes and foundation and you are packed :)
For Tarte Mascara fans out there, you can add these two sets on your list of must haves, The Best for Lash ($25) which contains 1 Primer, 2 Mascara and 1 Inner Rim Liner or the Stop and Stare Liner+Lash Set ($39) with an assortment of 3 Skinny SmolderEyes waterproof liner, 2 SmolderEyes waterproof liner and a Deluxe Light Camera Flashes mascara. Looking for a stocking stuffer? Might I suggest, Thoughtful Treasures Best Sellers set ($19) containing a limited edition blush, maracuja oil and lipsurgence lip tint..

So this will conclude part 1 of the holiday collection....I didn't want to overwhelm you with loads and loads of awesome goodies :)
What have you picked up from any of the 2013 Holiday Collection? Please Do share :)
Comment with your thoughts below or email with any queries, don't forget to share & socialize with me on twitter, instagram and facebook ......stay beauty-full :)