Rimmel Brow This Way Brow Sculpting Kit

I must admit I haven't had that much experience with brow products. My usual routine is to shape my prow with a generic brown eyeliner. But that aside I was quite impressed with this little kit! I'm really loving it right now.

It comes with a gel and a powder and both are tinted. After much debate I ended up going for the medium brown and I'm really happy I did. I almost ended up with the dark brown but it just looked too dark. And so the medium matched perfectly.

I do kind of wish that the kit had a ratio of gel to powder that was greater on the gel side. I'm really just using the gel to shape and colour, occasionally using the powder to fill in. But nowhere near as much. Then I just need the brush to be longer and I'm all set! It comes with a double sided angled brush that works perfectly, I just find it hard to handle sometimes because of how short it is. I'll get a better one soon!

Swatches of the Rimmel Brow This Way Brow Sculpting Kit
Left: gel
Right: powder

Physicians Formula City Glow Daily Defence Bronzer

I bought this while it was on sale because I wanted to try one of their products and this looked rather cool. It's too cool though - I should have grabbed the Paris one instead of the New York one! Oh well.

Basically I'm not a fan yet of cool toned bronzers. They just don't seem to show up on my skin, but I have a feeling it's because the ones I've tried have been too light for my skin tone. So from that you can probably gather that this didn't show up on my skin at all! 

It also comes with a heavy amount of gold flake on it that you can either try to use for a night out (?) or blow off the top like I did. So pretty to look at, but a bit hard to use. 

The actual bronzer has a slight shimmer to it as well. I actually found it perfect to use with my Maybelline Superstay Better Skin foundation, which I find doesn't give as much of that shimmery glow as I would like. So I now use this as a setting powder for my foundation! And I really like it as that. It's super lightweight and gives just the right amount of shimmer.

Rimmel Lasting Finish 25H Foundation

So the full name of this is the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25H with Comfort Serum Skin Perfecting Full Coverage Foundation. Which basically is everything this product is.

It's full coverage, and I find that it ends up being fairly thick and heavy because if it. You especially don't really want to coat it with anything because even a finishing powder makes it caky. It does do the full coverage job though. And although I haven't had cause to wear it for 25h, nor would I do that to my skin anyways, I have worn it for an entire day. And I must say that at the end of the day it was definitely still there and it was actually really hard to take off. It's very water resistant too.

This is all a bit much for daily wear for me, just because I don't need it. I do use it for special occasions and I also use it to test how well a pore concealer primer works because this foundation will expose any pores unless you either wear a primer or work it in for a very long time.

One pump of the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25H Foundation

Starlooks Gem Pencil

I got this in my October Topbox and was pretty excited to try it because the initial swatches were gorgeous. The colour of this is amazing. It's a really bright shimmery indigo blue and it goes on super smooth.

It also sharpens just as smoothly, and I've had no breakage so far, which is really nice. It doesn't like to stay in a sharp point because of how soft it is though. Besides that the only problem I've had with it is the amount of fallout. You wouldn't expect it from an eyeliner but it's worse than my Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal for the pieces of glitter that migrate down my face. So that's not fun. But if you're just going to wear it for a couple of hours it's great.

Swatch of Starlooks Gem Pencil in Ultra Violet

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick (036 Kiss)

I'm pretty sure I picked this up because it was on sale and I wanted to try a Rimmel lipstick. This is a kind of soft shimmery mauve-pink which is not a colour I've owned before. But now I do!

I actually really like the colour of it. It's easy to wear and is more soft than most of my other reds and oranges. It has the smooth texture of a creme lipstick and it covers evenly. It does have a bit of transparency, but not a lot. The colour still comes out strong.

It's lasts for a couple of hours before you have to reapply. And besides that the only thing that bugs me about this lipstick is the smell. It smells exactly like a Lipsmacker I had years ago from a Christmas collection and it was called Sugarplum. When I smelled the Rimmel I knew it was familiar but it took me a few days for me to place it. Anyways, I hated that smell, and therefore this is not really any better. The best way to describe it is like a really sweet grape smell. I can get past that though!

Lise Watier Perfecting Foundation Brush

I needed a foundation brush for quite some time, but was reluctant to try the Quo brand of brushes, even though they are the only brush you see while you're in Shopper's Drug Mart. They don't have a good reputation, apparently shedding unnecessarily. I don't have a car and there aren't really many other options other than Shopper's (we don't have a Mac or Sephora in Guelph). 

Shopper's Drug Mart does have other options though, they're just hidden away a bit more. The other options I was given were by Lise Watier and Urban Decay. And these brushes are of a higher quality for equal to or less than the cost of the Quo brushes. So I chose the Lise Watier foundation brush to start out with.

And I love it so much. It's soft and smooth and blends exactly how I want it to. I've encountered no shedding, and it's easy to clean. It doesn't take a huge amount of the product either, so it's not saturated and wasting product. I can even dab concealer on it and use it to blend that

I feel like all brushes are overpriced really, but if I'm going to pay a lot I want the quality to be good, and I feel like this one is. I find it especially worth it to not have to use my fingers to blend in product, as I was doing before, since I feel that doesn't really help my skin to be putting my fingers all over it. It's probably psychological but I can't shake the feeling!

Maskeraide Hydrating Facial Sheet Mask - All Nighter

I finally had cause to try this the other day. I got it in my October Topbox and haven't yet had a chance until now. It's supposed to be used after a particularly long night and not a lot of sleep. Usually I'm picky about getting enough sleep but for Halloween night I was out a bit later! So the next morning I used this to try and feel a bit more alert.

It's neat because it is literally a mask for your face. It fits over your face with holes for your eyes, nose, and mouth. You're supposed to smooth it down and rub in any excess into your neck and any uncovered parts.

I imagine it's quite hard to get something that fits everyone's face. There were some spots that didn't get covered but it wasn't bad. It definitely will wake you up because unless you've warmed up the packet first it comes out freezing cold! So putting that directly on your face is a huge wake me up.

Although I don't use masks all that much, I tend to use the type that peels off in a very satisfying way. This obviously doesn't provide that satisfaction, and I don't get the same feeling of having dirt and oil removed. It very well could be absorbing toxins from the skin, it just doesn't feel like it.

My skin just felt a bit more bouncy and resilient afterwards. It mainly just leaves the feeling of being very well moisturized. This would be good for someone who hates anything too heavy on their face, and doesn't want to wash or peel a large amount of product off after.

Benefit It Stick (and Quo sharpener)

I know, I know. They don't make these any more. But for comparison's sake I thought I would review it anyways. 

Once I started using this, I found I didn't have a sharpener to fit it. I looked in a couple of places and finally found one at Shopper's Drug Mart from their brand Quo. The sharpener has a normal small size and a medium size that fits the Benefit It Stick. 

I find I'll use this if I'm in a rush and am just putting on a bit of concealer. It blends in pretty well, and it stands up fairly well to the liquid concealers I own. It covers about the same, but I find it doesn't last as long as a liquid concealer. It isn't as great to use around the eyes either, because it pulls a tiny bit on the skin. 

All in all, not bad. It's good for doubling up concealer. I'll use this first and then cover it with a liquid concealer and it's helpful for really tough spots and acting as a base for the other concealer.

3 Products I Couldn't Live Without in High School

I was going through an old makeup case the other day and came across a bunch of things that I used all the time in high school. My taste and style has changed quite a bit since then, but it was fun to reminisce!

These are products that I bought multiples of and that I used quite a bit. The first is the Wet 'n' Wild MegaBrilliance Lip Gloss. I only have three left from then but I remember having a lot more! They're basically a gloss with a bunch of glitter in them. I wasn't into lipstick at all in high school and these seemed a good alternative, especially since I loved (and still love) all things shiny! They smell really good too.

The next this in the Yves Rocher Liquid Pearl Eyeshadow. The colours I have here are Daring Plum and Bronzed Green, and I used to have a gold one too but I used it all up! My mom ordered from Yves Rocher so I was always getting this and that to try. These are good bases for powder eyeshadow and they have super strong pigment on their own as well. The sponge applicator gets a bit streaky but you can fill that in and get a smooth coat of colour pretty easily.  (I would actually use these again if I could.)

And the last is the Annabelle Kohl Eyeliners. I was so obsessed with these! I basically thought the blue ones as the perfect blues and wore them with blue eyeshadow a lot.

As you can see I was much more colour oriented back then and focused only really on my eyes (and even then I had no idea how helpful mascara could be!). I'm trying to get back to that a little because I feel like I'm stuck in the neutrals rut!

What were your favourite products when you were younger? Do you still love them now? Let me know!

Swatches just for fun!
Bottom 2: Yves Rocher Liquid Pearl Eyeshadow
Middle 3: Wet 'n' Wild MegaBrilliance Lip Gloss
Top 3: Annabelle Kohl Eyeliners

Sunday Shoe Day: Club Couture Platform Pump

Soo... I obviously like lace. This is my second pair of pumps that have a see-through lace top. These ones have more lace concentrated at the toe, and are covered at the heel with a satin-like finish. These are also a little more comfortable than my other ones.

I've somehow already nicked the heel from catching them in the cracks in the sidewalk. I somehow need to avoid these more!

I got these for $25 at Meow! in Guelph. I find quite a few shoes there it seems!