Sparkled Beauty

Halifax Sephora!!!

2011-06-02T09:51:00.001-03:00

One of the most exciting events Halifax will see this summer would be the opening of the very first Maritimes Sephora at Halifax Shopping Centre. Yay!!!

I was fortunate to be invited to the Sephora press lunch last week and have all the deeds for those who are interested. The big date is August 12 (a day before my birthday, not that it's relevant lol). Halifax Sephora will be a full sized store that carries over 200 brands. I probably don't need to go on about how awesome this news is to all of us living around here, do I? A VIB (Very Important Beauty Insider) status might come sooner than I think, and I also don't have to miss picking up my Sephora birthday gift anymore.

Some fun facts about Sephora:
- History: Founded in France in 1969, acquired by Paris-based LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) in 1997. I thought the company is American the whole time :)

- The name: combination of 2 words: Zipporah (the wife of Moses, known for her exceptional beauty) and Sephos (a Greek term, attributed to beauty and vanity). Cool huh?

- The concept: open-shelf, broad range of brands and products (skin care, colour, fragrance, nail care, bath & body, hair care), plus its own Sephora brand.

- Training: There is Sephora University in San Francisco (established since October 2007) with "Science of Sephora" education program. I'd love to go there :)

- The stores: 1000 stores worldwide (24 countries), 280 in North America, 25 in Canada, plus 300 inside JCPenney. First US store was in New York (1998), first Canadian store was in Toronto (2004). More than 9000 employees, 740 in Canada.

- The website: launched in 1999 with its Canadian section in 2003.

- Beauty Insider program: launched in 2007, with VIB tier added in 2009.

Sephora is a lot younger than I thought. It's amazing how fast a beauty store can grow in such short period of time!

The luncheon was very cozy and casual, just the way we Haligonians like it. I was really excited to be part of the media crowd for Sephora at this little corner of the east coast, and to meet fellow bloggers from around here. I don't feel so alone anymore :)

Sephora VP and PR rep were really nice to talk to, and very inspiring. They love their job, I can tell.

It was a great time - great food and great company. And another great part: goodie bags :)

What's inside:
Tarina Tarantino Sparklicity Bronze collection - Eyeshadow palette (top), Sparkle Powder (left) and Shimmer Dust (right).

The shades in the palette, as described on Sephora website:
- Pearl
- Pearlized Nude
- Shimmering Bronze
- Matte Brown
- Pearlized Pink
- Taupe
- Turquoise
- Shimmering Brown.

Hello Kitty notebook, cosmetic bag and Memoirs of a Kitty palette (eyeshadows and blushes) with:
4 eyeshadows:
- Pearlized Pinky Beige
- Pearlized Tan
- Pearlized Honey
- Sparkling Brown
2 blushes: Peach and Rose.

Makeup Forever Uplight Face Luminizer gel #32 (sparkling golden pink) and Aqua Liner High Precision Waterproof eyeliner #8 (iridescent electric purple).

Nars Laguna Multiple (brown with golden shimmer) and Wonder lip gloss (sheer mandarin orange with pink and gold shimmer). Isn't that a summer colour or what?

Thank you Sephora for coming to Halifax and for treating us bloggers so well. Come August, I'll have more details to tell you about the store. Stay tuned!

New-to-me Nail Polish brands

2009-08-14T10:10:00.003-03:00

First, I want to thank all of you so much for your comments on my Canadian Makeup Brands post. I'm amazed by the number of Canadian brands out there that I missed and to date, the post has been updated 4 times, so make sure you read to the 4th edit, lol. It wouldn't be complete without you, and remain the most popular post on Sparkled Beauty so far. So, thank you!

On to the nail polishes :-) I am growing more and more interested in nail polish, and always look out for new brands to learn about. And obviously, the wish list grows longer with that.

I have recently read about a quite unique product from a Canadian brand - Sula Beauty. It is the Paint and Peel polishes which are 3-free (no formaldehyde, toluene and phthalate). They are water-based polishes, hence no scent, and can peel off easily without polish remover. So cool!

In the picture is Sorbet, from Sula's Trend collection, retails US$9. I picked the brightest colour to show you, lol.

The company ships in Canada and US. From their store list, there is one in my area, so I will be checking out this brand.

The feedbacks on this product are a mix. All Lacquered Up said the polish was tricky to work with, while Cosmetic Candy loved it, which illustrates my point: beauty products work differently on different people. For me, I think it's a unique product, would be fun to play around with on a rainy day (or snowy day - soon enough) :-)

Ciaté is a UK brand who has one of the cuttest and most unique bottle designs I have seen - the rectangular shape, the ribbon, the long handle. The products are called Paint pots, featured in the picture is Mojito, retailed for £9. They are perfect to gift just like that, aren't they?

Bloggers seem to like the quality of these Paint Pots. The website unfortunately do not ship outside UK. However, according to Hele Says, Ciaté is also available at Powder Room at £7.50 and they do ship worldwide. Note that Hele has a 20% discount code to use at Powder Room, might come in handy one day.

Jessica is another brand that I have read about a few times from UK beauty blogs. Turns out it is an American brand but has a wide distribution system around the world. Its UK website is as informative and helpful as the US website, no wonder the products are popular in the UK too. Both websites can accomodate online orders. No Canada website though, lol, the story of our Canadian lives.

Jessica's regular line has "Custom Nail Colours" at $7 each. In the picture is Cleopatra's Rule from the Walk like An Egyption collection. The name of the collection is catchy enough, don't you think?

Scrangie's review on their Spring collection said the formula and wear were good and the products looked better on the nails than in the bottles.

I also found that Jessica has the Jessana Custom Colours collection with different bottle design and smaller bottle size (.25oz), offered at $4.75.

Nubar's bottles are so cute, don't you agree? Their nail lacquer shade collection is massive, featuring different themed collections from the pink We Care collection (supporting Breast Cancer Cure) to the bright summery Get Hot with Nubar set, then there are Glitter polishes. I wouldn't know what to choose.

One thing I know for sure: I love the duochromes (just like with eyeshadows), so I picked Stardust to show you, $7.49. This is not something I see everyday.

The nail polishes are 3-free and of good quality, fast drying, slow chipping. The brand also has nail treatments and other related products, totally online exclusive (only for US), unless you can get to their warehouse in LA. It was funny when I tried to get a shipping quote, they had options to choose country and province and a field for postal code, but when I hit enter, it said "Sorry, but we do not ship to international addresses". Lol, what's the point?

Mary from Body and Soul has a great series about Quirius, as she loves them so much. The company even offered a discount code for Body and Sould readers. How nice! I think Mary started some Quirius waves there, as quite a few bloggers went and got their own bottles after her post.

This is Caribbean Turquoise, a cool colour from tons and tons of colour selection from their online store. See it in action from Polish or Perish's swatches - and I think she liked the brand :-)

I love the fact that their polishes are very reasonable (retail $3 each) but unfortunately, they only ship within continental US.

Nfu-Oh is a brand I heard a lot from bloggers, for the main fact that the products are extremely pretty, of good quality and application, but not easy to find. I cannot find a homepage exclusively for Nfu-Oh, so the info is quite limited.

Another amazing bottle design right here, a very feminine one indeed. The Edge of Sanity was kind enough to let me use their awesome picture for illustration of this brand's bottles. Thanks so much.

According to Nfu-Oh Product Catalogue blog, the brand is created in South Korea, distributed mostly in Asia. There is Escalonce International Nail Academy to serve Singapore and Malaysia, and New Zealand Nail Academy sells in NZ.

Most bloggers turn to Fabulous Street for Nfu-Oh ($12.50/bottle), as they ship internationally. Shipping is free in the US. For Canada: $1 each for 1-3 bottles, $6 for 4-14 bottles, $10 for 15+ bottles, which I think is great. Other countries have to contact them for shipping quote.

Goldie is a mystery brand. It is supposed to be a brand at Bath & Body Works - see a post of its history at Beauty News NYC. I see that at one point, the products did appear on BBW website and somehow it went AWOL after that. If any of you is a long time fan of BBW, can you fill me in about this brand please?

Just look at the bottle design and the little white bow that enhances the "waist". I know we talked about the bow with Ciaté above, but this is a totally different look right? I totally love it.

Scrangie posted a teaser of her coming posts, showing some trios of Goldie polishes. They looked so pretty and I can't wait to learn more about the product.

PeaceKeeper is a brand of good cause as all of its after-tax profit goes to helping women's health and other issues. Its Nail Paints are rated as the safest paint-based natural polish.

In the picture is Paint Me Stunning, described as a shimmery pastel pink shade, from a selection of 8 shades, $10. There are a top/base coat, renewal oil and French kit as well. The brand also has other makeup products to add to the polishes.

The products are available in health food stores in US and Canada (there're 2 near me, yay!). Free shipping for website orders in the US over $50. International shipping is available as well, but we have to contact them for rates.

Knock Out (KO) also got me with its bottle design. The handle is extremely long, which is a challenge to newbies like me, but still doesn't stop me from looking :-)

The KO nail polish line only has 9 options at the moment. Featured in the picture is Flatte Black, the star of the line, matte (no shine), $19. It is suggested to use Flatte Top as top or base coat to improve the wear or maintain the matt look of the other 8 shades in the line. Application is tricky with the long handle for sure, but the formula and staying power are said to be quite good. If you are sporting matte polish trend, this product line is for you.

Online shopping or Henri Bendel in NY seem to be the choices for US. International customeres need to email them first, to sort out the details (shipping cost and stuff). Well, at least we have an option.

Talking about black matte polish, we cannot miss The Death Tar from ManGlaze. Almost each and every nail polish blogger raved about this shade non stop, way before the matte trend even started. It is also a big 3-free.

The other shade ManGlaze has, Fuggen Ugly, a matte grey, doesn't seem to get as much attention. But the swatches at The Polish Addict for both shades are beautiful, I'm telling ya. Note: the name she had on these polishes are before the fancy names were created.

And remember, unless you get bored with a matte look, don't apply your top coat on them lol. Application and wear are extremely good with these guys.

They ship worldwide which is a total plus. The products are currently on special online for $6.66 ($13 in stores), shipping to Canada is about $6.

Bloom, an Australia brand, has made its way North America, UK and more and is getting popular.

Their nail polish line has about 80 colours, described on the website as "a professional two-coat formula with a 330-strand brush", sold for AUD19.95 (current promotion: 2 for AUD29.95). Online shopping is for Australians only, I'm sorry to add.

Their stockists list is quite impressive with stores around the world, but unfortunately in Canada, it only come as far east as Toronto, lol.

In the picture is Daisy, a matte yellow shade. I have never worn a matte polish (probably because I love sparkly things, lol) but I saw the matte polish trend supported by many brands in the last year or so. Maybe I should jump on the wagon. Any Torontonian ladies have seen this brand around?

I was on twitter spotting a Sleek Makeup's tweetpic about its Acid palette being named as one of Cosmo's Beauty Director top 10 summer buys. It is a LE palette and they are not sure they still have any to put on their online store once it opens. Sad I know. Anyway, I spotted something else right in the middle that picture: Vie At Home nail polishes, lol. How come I never heard of it, and I can't seem to find any review in the blogger world about this brand.

These 3 colours are called Sunshine Nails with Perfectly Polished formula, with sparkly, metallic and high gloss finishes, retail £10 each. There are also a few regular colours and French Manicure kit.

Shipping is within UK mainland only. Oh boy!

I recently heard about a Korean brand called Guppy from MissChievous. I believe she is the first to mention this brand, as it seems no one has ever heard of it outside Korea. Based on her Guppy NOTD and review of shade #77 (green with gold shimmer, in the picture), the polish is of great quality (OPI comparable).

The only place we could get our hands on some Gupppy is from jolieeeee boutique on ebay, for $2.50 a pop. She currently has about 23 shades, and a top coat. Shipping is $1.50/bottle and $1 per additional bottle, quite good. I checked a few countries and get the same rate, so I guess she offers flat rate.

Check out Julia's Guppy swatches of a few more shades she tried with cream finish. If you are going to order some, maybe check with Jolieeeee for shade and finish description first, to avoid any surprise or disappointment.

A fun brand to end the post would be appropriate, I assume. Here is Minx, a brand in "nail fashion". It is basically solid nail coating polymer/sticker that comes in different pattersn, colours and designs. The sticker needs to be heated slightly then applied on the nails, normally by a professional, hence the Salon & Spa Finder tab on the site. 6 spas in Canada have it, non in NS though. No price info is available either.

I found a thorough review of Minx from All Lacquered Up, so check that out.

In the picture is the Bridal nail pattern which I think is very cute and elegant. If I can do Minx on my sister's nails for her wedding, wouldn't it be awesome?

It sure is a big world out there, I am so overwhelmed. It is very likely that this post will be updated again, if I find more brands. Hope you don't mind.

Photo credit: sulabeauty.com, ciate.co.uk, jessicacosmetics.com, bynubar.com, qnail.com, fabuloustreet.com, iamapeacekeeper.com, koknockout.com, manglaze.com, bloomcosmetics.com, vieathome.com, jolieeeee boutique on ebay, minxnails.com

Canadian makeup brands

2009-08-08T11:33:00.012-03:00

First off, MAC. We all know MAC started out in Canada, but since then, it has grown so much to become an international brand. I don't think I need to say anything about MAC, but for the purpose of this post, MAC has to be here to start the show.

Thanks to the popularity of Shoppers and Sephora, you all probably knew and heard about CoverFX already. One of its best products is the Total Coverage Cream Foundation SPF30 which provides good coverage while not being heavy or oily on the skin. My favorite product from CoverFX, however, is the Lip Treatment & Tinted Lustre SPF15 (in the picture) which unfortunately has been discontinued. It comes in a silver dual-ended tube, the lip treament is to moisturize and prime the lips, and the lip tint will add a sheer hint of colour on top. I like the idea of them being separated, as when I want a bit more colour, I could just add it on top of the lip treatment and skip the tint. And as a bonus, it smells good too. I have one in the office, for touch up during the day and it works wonder.

I grabbed most of the shades I liked last time the product was cleared out at Shoppers. I'm so glad I did. It is now replaced by MintGlazeFX, a fortifying lip primer SPF15.

Price-wise, CoverFX is a higher end brand - e.g. the Lip Treatment & Tint was CAD24. I was lucky to win a ClearPrep FX on twitter from CoverFX. It's a matte foundation primer plus the anti-acne treatment. Just like the Lip Treatment above, it serves 2 purpose in 1 tube. Review to come, depending on how fast I am finishing the current primer.

Another proud Canadian brand is Cargo with catchy motto "Be-you-tiful" and the well known eco-friendly Plant Love line . The packaging is so cute, the shades are paired with celebrities or places with ecology beauty. And part of the sales is to support good cause, which I thought was so cool.

Cargo released its latest Blu-ray collection a while back. I quite like the lip gloss palette and the blushes/ highlighters. The colours are very fun to play with. However, they have been quiet lately, I haven't heard any new product announcement from them. Cargo products is in the mid-range of cost as well.

There is only one place here that I can come and see Cargo goodies in person - Mills. But I am always kinda intimidated walking in stores like that, so I haven't been back for a while, lol.

Annabelle is a re-discovered brand to me, as I see its products at Shoppers all the time but never picked up anything. The shelf was boring, nothing new, and I never heard anybody mentioning them. Until recently with their youtube competition and the launch of the custom quads with mono shadows, I am more interested in checking them out. I have purchased a few quads, as you have seen on this blog, and am quite happy with them.

The news on youtube is that Annabelle is going to release the new Studio collection in August 16, with 6 bright pigments at CAD8.50. I'm so there to check them out!

Marcelle is a sister brand of Annabelle, used to be known more for its skincare products than makeup. Recently, they came out with a few makeup collections that caught my attention. The Aquatik collection was very interesting, plus the added effect of the Horizon Bronzing Pressed Powder (in the picture), and the Colour Cube Powders - Multi-Blush. These products are of good size and the price is quite reasonable. The bronzer is CAD16, and it's huge (18gr) - probably the biggest bronzer I have seen around. Just for comparison purpose, MAC's MSFs are CAD32.50 for 10gr of product.

I have to say they have done a decent job to gain back some popularity in the community. I always feel happy walking in a drugstore and see new product displays, as they prove that the brands are doing their job to entertain the makeup crowd. The isle needs to look sparkly new and interesting!

Quo is the makeup home brand of Shoppers and is not available outside the stores. It currently shares the website with Shoppers which is not necessary a good thing. New products haven't been promoted, even a few regular products aren't on the site either. For this reason, I have to browse the isle to be in the known if Quo has new products or promotions.

Quo makeup is of decent quality and nice/ simple packaging. Their brushes are probably their best sellers as they have received good reviews from users. I do hope the brand gets more publicity, at least has its own website and proper media image promotion, as it deserves it.

The last brand is Inglot, a Polish makeup brand, but has established a network of stores in Canada way before coming to the US, so I thought I should include it. I have a hard time looking for information about this brand, as the Inglot Canada website only listed 5 stores in Quebec with no product information, and the Inglot Australia site is under construction. But... I found a great youtube video from JustMakeUpYourMind that shows you all about Inglot, for your viewing pleasure.

Don't you want to go shopping after seeing the pictures? As Inglot made its way to the US with its very first store opened about a month ago in NY, the feedbacks from bloggers has been very positive. Prices are comparable to MAC as well: their shadows are $13 and lipsticks $12. I will definitely come to a store if I'm travelling anywhere near one.

EDIT TO ADD:
Beauté Cosmetics is a new-to-me brand but has been popping up in a few blog posts from some blogs I frequent. The product stands out the most is the Luminous Volume Gloss with shiny, creamy texture plus plumping effect. Based on an interview that ThisThatBeaty did with Beau Nelson - Beauté's Creative Director, among the Luminous Volume Glosses (retail CAD26), Heroine (in the picture) is the YLBB (Your lips but better) universal shade, and the best seller is the Liqui-Gel Stain in Flouron (CAD29).

Beauté products are available on their website, Holt Renfrew (which we don't have around here), some salons in Alberta, and a few shops in the US. I couldn't find info about shipping cost, and haven't shopped with them before, so I can't comment about that, but at least I'm glad that there is an option if I do one day decide to try their products.

3 more brands to add, thanks to the lovely Michelle and Naomi:
I can't believe I left Lise Watier out. I have been lemming the Sea Belle collection display at Shoppers when it was first released. Probably because they are a higher end brand, I don't come to their conner often enough.

Although the dominant colour of this collection is blue (as it is Under the Sea theme), I like the Beach quad (in the picture, CAD35) better as it features a variety of fun shades while the Lagoon quad only has blue. But the blue packaging is obviously catchy.

One of their best sellers is the Professional Correctors porfolio (CAD29) with 5 different shades in 1 wheel, infused with vitamins and chamomille. I can't say how well it works, as I haven't tried it. I might go to the counter to try it out.

Vasanti Cosmetics is a Canadian owned and operated brand (see the comments below). I'm certainly drawn to their shadows and pigments first. The shadows (CAD15) are named after famous cities around the world. In the picture is the new "Montreal", described as a purple with hints of two-toned blue shimmer, very tempting to me.

The shimmer powders (CAD14) has some bright shades that I certainly like to try. There's "Solar Flare" which is a Pale golden yellow, might satisfy my crave for yellow shades.

According to the locations on their site, the brand has made it to one Shoppers here, so I'll go check it out. Online shopping is available with shipping between CAD7 and CAD9.75. International customers could contact Customer Service before ordering. Vasanti does have a US website and a UK website as well.

This third brand, Balmshell is totally new to me, as I have never heard of it before. According to their website, they currently only have lip and cheek products.
I like the look of the Lip-gloss in "Confession of a Call girl" (in the picture, CAD20) the most, as it is described as a sheer hot orange and I believe coral/orange shades look better with my skin tone. Their Smear Campaign stains (CAD20) are gorgeous too. They are available at Shoppers and Mills here. It's just funny I haven't known about it until today.

SECOND EDIT TO ADD: Thanks to Julie :-)
I have come across FACEatelier a couple times but didn't remember it at the time of this post. The products remind me of MAC, just by the look of them, especially the shadows (CAD17 each) and palettes ($9 for 4-pan palette and $18 for 12-pan one). This is out of my range already, they are even more costly than MAC.

In the picture is the Eye shimmer in Pink Glaze(CAD19), a cute pink shade. It's ok to look, right? lol.

I have seen Nacara once, at a Shoppers that I don't normally go to, and it's not the same one that carries Vasanti above. Lol, is Shoppers playing games with me or what? Can't they just all carry the same stuff? Their website said they are at some Walmarts as well, hmm...

Does this little wheel looks pretty to you? It's their Custom Corrector.
Straight from the website:
Which to use when:
Dark Brown: Hides dark circles and imperfections
Medium Brown: Corrects areas that lack pigment
Light Brown: Corrects areas that lack pigment
Orange: Illuminates skin
Yellow: Conceals redness or blemishes
I will have to go to that Shoppers to test out this concealer wheel and check the brand's price range as well. If it works, it might help me to save some $ as an alternative to Lise Watier's portfolio. Hopefully!

Nacara only has 6 shades of eyeshadows right now, named after exotic birds. Quetzal sounds like a great bird, lol. Creative, don't you think?

One last brand I just remember seeing at Walmart, with a little display shying away from the big brands - Indulge Cosmetics. There has been no promotions on this brand, and it never made it to Walmart flyers. It is interesting to know that this brand is available at Walmart in Canada and Dollar Tree in the US. Reasonable pricing?

I actually noticed this brand through a Canadian nail polish blog - Deez Nailz. Check out her gorgeous Indulge polish swatches. These bottles might be mine next time I am looking for new nail colours to wear. FYI, they come in sets of 3 as they are a lot smaller than regular sized bottles.

THIRD EDIT TO ADD: Thanks to Cherz...master
Joe Fresh Beauty is the lastest creation of Joe Mimran, creative director of Joe Fresh. The brand is housed in Loblaws store (a groceries chain) around the country (here in the East coast, the stores are called Atlantic Superstore). I remember all the buzz when Joe Fresh announced their makeup line. People kept checking the store for product display, complained when they didn't see it, and intrique when they finally did.

Surprisingly their eye products didn't cath my attention as much as the face products did. In the picture is the Cheek Tint in Cherry, at the bottom are Nude and Pink shades. I swatched them in store and quite liked them. Creamy and easy to apply. Right now they have 6 shades, I'm torned between Peach and Pink.

Besides makeup, the line also includes brushes and accessories. The 4-sided display is always fun to look at. Stocks, however, vary in stores, so it does take a bit of time to hunt down the shelf that has the shade(s) I wanted to test out. Due to my overgrowing stash, I haven't picked up any of these babies, but glad to see another Canadian brand showed up in stores. Yet again, I forgot to include it in this post until getting a comment, lol.

FOURTH EDIT TO ADD: Thanks to Revolution themselves
I was lemming over these Freedom Lip Glosses from Revolution for their chic look and fun colour selection the first time I saw it on a blog post. Organic lipsticks with vitamins and antioxidants plus green packaging, how much more fun could it be? "Guilt-free Glam", as they said it.

I'm voting for Integrity in the middle, described as a shimmering golden rose colour, but also like the daring Vibe with its peachy colour, CAD29.

Revolution also has Freedom Glow Beauty Balms (CAD37) that could work as blush, lipstick, bronzer, and eyeshadow. Multi-tasking products are love, aren't they?

Their products are available on The Shopping Chanel, Pistachio stores in Toronto, and QVC in US.

This is like my longest post ever. So proud of our Canadian brands!

Photo credit: coverfx.com, cargocosmetics.com, annabellecosmetics.com, marcelle.com, shopperdrugmarts.ca, beaute-cosmetics.com, lisewatier.com, vasanticosmetics.ca, balmshell.com, faceatelier.com, nacara.com, indulgecosmetics.com, joe.ca/en/beauty, revolutionorganics.com

UK makeup brands

2009-08-04T11:41:00.004-03:00

So... August is my birthday month, and I like to think it's fun to "celebrate" the whole month instead of just one day. So I'll make an effort to blog everyday this month, to be a good blogger and all, lol. Will see how that works out. Ok, back to the topic.

I bet you all have heard of (or purchased from) Illamasqua by now. There have been countless reviews on the web about products of this UK brand, and most were positive. I like the idea of a new brand that is comparable to MAC and that has a good marketing sense to promote their products to Sephora . With the newly opened Sephora in NY, the brand has made a grand entrance to the US market. Needless to say, makeup lovers are all over Illamasqua powder/ cream blushes ($23), pigments ($24), liquid metals ($24), nail polishes ($14), etc. The price range is not really within my reach, but I'm fine with not shopping this brand, just like I'm fine with not shopping MAC (I'm weird huh?). But it's still an exciment to the makeup world, as maybe it's time for MAC to share the throne with someone else.

Sleek is another makeup brand from the UK that I recently discovered. Its iDivine shadow palettes) have been a hit in the blogger world. I personally don't own any, as so far it is UK-exclusive, but judging by people's raves over them, I'm curious to try. The company is working on an online-shop website so that people outside UK could put in their orders, which is exciting. The price is about £4.49 which isn't bad. The website only features 3 palettes (Original, Chaos and Storm and the new Curious palette (in the picture) coming out this August, but I have read about a few more (Acid, Safari, Jewels, etc.). Lots of them are LE, but I really hope Sleek will have more than 4 different palettes online. I love shadows, especially with drugstore price, so this might be something I could afford. And it's from the UK, probably my first experience ever buying anything from there :-)

Barry M is another brand on the affordable side. Their most famous products are the Dazzle Dusts (£4.50) - in the picture, and nail paints (£2.95), but there are a lot more on the website. The good thing is they do ship internationally, but I can't tell what the shipping cost is like, as customers are asked to contact the company for a quote. With the exchange rate, the prices would come out a bit higher than I would normally pay for my mineral pigments or nail polishes. Also, the colours aren't LE, so I'm not in a rush to order.

Another brand which isn't popular outside UK yet: Collection 2000. I was intriqued seeing this brand popping up in a few blog posts. The Dazzle Me! Eye Dusts are said to be a "rip-off" of Barry M Dazzle Dusts, as they are only at half of the price in bigger pots with a few similar shades. And the quality is good, no complains. And then, there are the Hot Looks nail polishes (featured in the pic in the most famous shade "Dynasty"), around £1.80 each. They are said to be comparable to Barry M polishes as well. Are you confused with too many alternatives yet?

Unfortunately, there is no option to buy directly from the company website. They point visitors to boots.com or superdrug.com, and these 2 sites certainly do not deliver outside UK. So the only solution, if you want some Collection 2000, would be asking a UK friend for a shopping favour, or find a swap :-)

Lastly, beautyuk, another less popular brand. How gorgeous is this eyeshadow collection palette? I spent quite some time on the website looking at their products, liked the shades and the price point. They have single shadows (£1.99), quads (£3.49), lots of nail shades (£1.79) as well, but I am only interested in the palettes for now. 4 options to choose from: Pastels, Brights, Glitters and Neutrals, £3.49 each. Not available online, though, only at Superdrug. Just imagine if one day I go to the UK, my first stop would probably be Superdrug, lol.

At least I'm glad to have full access to Rimmel, Boots No7 and Gosh from drugstores around here. Well, Gosh is a Denmark brand, not UK, but you know what I mean - brands from that part of the world that isn't always accessible. If I miss a brand that you like from there, let me know and I'll add it to the post.

EDIT TO ADD:
B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful, a sister brand of Lush, is known for its vegan cosmetic line and its super cute packaging. Can you guess what's in that "jewelled hinged pot"? It's their Lip Cream in Bitten (£9.30), with a 24K gold leaf for look. Their Pressed Shadows are very cool too, a little to the expensive side (£8.30) though. Refills are available, so you can continue using their cute packaging one shadow at a time. Imagine you have a little army of these babies, they could be great decorations to your vanity and you don't have to worry about organizing them in a drawer.

The thing is they haven't been expanding very much, only have 3 stores in the UK so far. They for sure ship within UK, Japan and Austria but ask that customers from any other country contacting them for shipping availability. In short, I'm not sure they ship to Canada.

Eyeko is another fun brand to try out. Their manga-styled packaging is eye catching, and so is their "free shipping world wide on all orders" policy. Who doesn't love that?

Their most popular product is probably the 3-in-1 Cream (£6 or $9), and its tinted version too. It is said to work as a moisturizer, a highlighter and an eye cream at the same time. Most bloggers said they mostly use the cream for highlighting, as it adds a nice glow above your cheek bone and emphasizes your blush.

Their little bottles of nail polishe are cute too. Check out the swatches at Scrangie if you are interested.

Note: Make sure to click on the little $ sign on the side bar to see the price in $, as the default is in £ and the exchange rate they use does change over time.

Photo credit: illamasqua.com, sleekmakeup.com, barrym.com, collection2000.co.uk, beautyuk.org., bnevertoobusytobebeautiful.com and eyeko.com

MAC kit haul

2009-07-12T20:06:00.001-03:00

It was perfect yesterday, sunny and warm. I had a nice time outside. We had an appointment at the studio for some family photos - haven't had our pictures professionally taken for a long time. Squirt certainly had a fun time, as she is a natural poser. Can't wait to see how the pictures turn out.

I didn't do much shopping this weekend. Just did a short trip to Walmart for some batteries. Saw certain shades of Sally Hansen Nail polish on for CAD2, part of their "Roll Back" campaign. I just bought one purple shade - as purple is probably the colour I don't have many.

So the reason for all the pull back, no shopping thoughts that I have had recently? The huge haul I said I would talk about a few days ago: MAC. A MA decided to retire to be a new mom (and had no desire to come back to makeupafter) and sell part of her kit, which had a bit of everything. This is in no mean a huge haul, compared to lots of you out there everytime MAC has a new release :-). It is just huge to me, because I never spend that much money at once. My experience with MAC is limited as well, as I always feel intimidated being in the store (and don't know what I was doing there).

First, the makeup case. I never own one, and always admire people who bought them. To me, it is such a neat way to organize makeup and it's convenient when you know where the stuff is. And to my dream of being a MA, a case like this is such a must have. At least, it looks cool to have one, lol. It's funny, as after I bought it, I left it alone with all the other stuff inside for days. My bf kept asking why I haven't started putting makeup in the case. And today I finally opened it up and added some stuff. It looks all pretty and tidy now.

Next, the brushes. I never had a MAC brush in my life, for one simple reason: they are costly. No one can deny the high quality of MAC makeup brushes, and makeup lovers always crave about them. But I'm such a newbie, still trying to figure out how to use brushes to get the look I want. It is scary to have a brush in your hand and don't know what to do with it. Still, this brush collection fell on my hand (with a price tag to pay), and they are so pretty. I got a brush roll with 17 brushes.
Face brushes:
- 109 small contour brush
- 150 large powder brush
- 184 duo fiber fan brush
- 187 and 188 large and small duo fiber brush (the loveliest among them all)
- 190 foundation brush

Eye brushes:
- 208 angled brow brush
- 210 precise eyeliner brush
- 212 flat definer brush
- 213 fluff brush
- 217 blending brush
- 227 large fluff brush
- 231 small shader brush
- 239 shading brush
- 242 shader brush
- 252 large shader brush
- 263 small angle brush
Considering how little I know about MAC, Temptalia's Guide to MAC would be a must read material. Her Beauty Basics series on MAC eye brushes has been very helpful when I was trying to decide whether it was worth it buying the brushes. Now I have to do more reading, and then start to know my brushes to put them in good use.

And the most exciting part of the haul - the eyeshadows.
From L-R, First row: Copper Ring, Swimming, Humid, Retro-Speck and Plumage
Second row: Swish, Woodwinked, Bitter, Parfait Amour and Star Violet
Third row: Amber Lights, All that Glitters and Fresh Water.
They are so pretty, and it's a good combination among different shades, dark, highlight, bright summer shades, etc. I for sure will have fun creating looks with them.

The rest is face stuff. They are part of the kit, so I had to get them all, still need to see how to use them. I heard good things about the foundation - MAC Studio Fix (NC35, C40) and Studio Fix Fluid(NW15, NW25, NC37). The interesting part is the liquid ones have SPF15 while the compacts don't - I think they are sold at the same price at MAC. I don't know what my MAC foundation shade is, but by the look, these shades might be a little too light for my skin tone. I'm thinking of selling them.

Powder blush in "Secret blush", Heatherette lipstick in Fleshpot, lipsticks in Midmauve and TWIG. I'm not big in blushes but I like this Secret blush a lot. I will try it out pretty soon. The Heatherette lipstick got me with its fancy package, but it's a nude shade and I don't know whether I can rock nude shades, as my lips are quite pigmented. The other 2 shades are easier to work with, I guess, but they are quite similar. So lipstick wise, I don't know what to do with them :-)

Eye Kohl in Fascinating, Fix +, Matte, Select Cover-Up (NW15) and Paints in Sublime Nature. There's a Blacktrack Fluidline as well, not pictured. The white kohl could be used in the lower lash line to bright up the eyes (I need some practice in that field). Fix + is a stable in lots of you ladies' routine but I don't know how it works. Matte would be useful for my T-zone (maybe like a primer). The Cover-Up is too light, and I never used paints before. Haha, do you start thinking what I was doing getting this kit and don't know how to use the stuff?

If you guys have some experience with any of the products in this kit, please share. There's no way back for me with this haul, so I seriously need to make it work or I'll have to sell some off.

Hope you guys are ready for a new week. I know I'm not. Thanks for stopping by.