New *Limited Edition* Colour Tattoos!

Hey again!
I'm being productive today but in all the wrong places. And I like it.
For example, my lovely boyfriend got me a new camera for my birthday (Canon Powershot A2300). And I figured I'd see how it worked by photographing a blog post. It cut my time in half because the focus alone is 10x better on this camera and it finally actually focuses on the product and not the stupid thing behind it.

Maybelline put out eight new shades of the Colour Tattoo cream eyeshadows that are limited edition with their fall collection and I thought I'd review them for you!

That's the view out of my new window! I recently switched rooms and I'm loving the extra space.

*Side note: I didn't write a post on the Colour Tattoos when they first came out for two reasons.
1). They were so widely loved and talked about, I didn't see the point
2). I was REALLY lazy to photograph all those cream eyeshadows, there are a lot of them,

Anyway, long story short, they are cream eyeshadows and I love them! They are pigmented, smooth and they do not crease at all! I need makeup removed to get them off, they are extremely long wearing.

I was dying for the jewel tones that were coming out with this fall collection (a deep purple, blue, etc.) but I haven't seen them anywhere so they might not be coming to Canada which totally sucks monkey balls. However, I did pick up the four more neutral ones that have popped in Shopper Drug Mart recently.

They are truly gorgeous fall shades that will be great for the season.

Above: #100: Barely Beige

The complaint I had when the Colour Tattoos first came out was that there wasn't really a nude/champagne colour. They had "Too Cool" which was a really stark white so I found it difficult to wear. 

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 I guess Maybelline realized that too and here we have "Barely Beige" which oddly enough comes of much more pink than it actually is in these pictures. It's a great cream/champagne colour with pink undertones. It's really easy and makes a great base or quick eyeshadow for those days you just need to get out the door quickly. It's shimmery but that doesn't bother me personally.

Above: #200: Mossy Green

I was so excited for this one! It's such a great fall colour and really wearable too.

It's dark, yes but it would make the great beginning for an olive smokey eye. It has a beautiful gold shimmer running through which can lighten it a little, so don't be afraid to try this one!

Above: #300: Gold Shimmer

A lot of people say this is very close the "Bold Gold" colour that they have in the permanent collection but I can't make the comparison because I didn't pick that one up. It looked to much like MAC's "Indianwood" paint pot which I do own for me to justify buying it. 

This however is much darker than "Indianwood" and it has an amazing multi-faceted shimmer which makes so beautiful when worn alone. I love using this day to day for a really beautiful shimmery eye look. This might be my favourite of the new four.

 Above: #400: Rich Mahogany

The other colour I wished had come out with the permanent collection was a really rich dark brown and apparently Maybelline agreed with me again.

 This colour is a really great deep brown with shimmer with a sort of purple/burgandy shimmer running through it, which is why it looks kind of purple in the pictures. It's gorgrous! It would make a great smokey eye for fall or used lightly in the crease it could provide definition.

Overall:

All four of these limited edition shades have shimmer in them, in case you haven't noticed so if you're not a fan of that- steer clear of these.

They have the same great pigmented, long lasting formula as the regular Colour Tattoos and the same great creamy texture. 

I love all four of these new shades and if you like what you see here- go get some soon! They won't be around for long and they're going fast. I had to go to four different Shopper Drug Marts to find all four shades (a sad example of how I spend my spare time). All for you, blog readers. All for you.  

Just a Few Things...

• This new camera makes photographing for blog posts so easy! Too bad with my reading week ending this won't increase my blog post output. Sorry :(
• I think when I do have the time, my next post will be a round-up of some great palettes for the fall seaason, including some old favourites and some new palettes from Urban Decay and Lorac.
• I had an amazing birthday celebration (shopping and dinner) with some of my best friends (Sarah and Steffy!) yesterday and got some really cute clothes! 
• I'm already so excited for Christmas! I don't know what it is! The baking, the decorations, spending time with my family, Christmas music, being on break from school- there's just so much to love about the holidays :) 
• I'm kind of sad all the time lately (I'm not depressed, relax) and I can't figure out why. Maybe the weather change? 

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!

-Tash<3

Comparison/Review: Bronze-Gold Cream Eyeshadows!

Hello everyone!
Isn't summer beautiful? Not if you love makeup.
Summer is my favourite season, but you literally cannot wear any makeup some days or it will just melt right off your face. Unless you're one of the lucky few who work in an air conditioned area- you might as well skip makeup altogether.
EXCEPT I'm a nut and can't do that. So one my favourite ways to get an easy, lightweight, simple, polished eye look in the summer using little to no effort are cream eyeshadows!
They great for those quick looks to get you out the door in the morning or you're just too hot and bothered to fuss with powder shadows, brushes, blending etc.
So in this post I'm going to do a high end and drugstore comparison review of bronze/gold cream bases that can be used on their own or under shadow.

Left: Maybelline Color Tattoo in #25 "Bad to the Bronze" -Generally around $10

Right: MAC Paint Pot in "Indianwood" -$20

The packaging on these products is incredibly similar. So much that when I was putting the lids back on after photographing this post, I switched the lids and put the wrong ones back on the pots and almost didn't even notice! Both are are in glass pots. great quality and very solid. Can't complain about the packaging of either product.

These bases look incredibly similar in the pots but look very different when swatched (as you'll see soon-- I thought these would be colour dupes but they definitely are not). 

Both are creamy and glide on effortlessly. Both stay all day, no creasing or fading which is impressive for a cream product in this kind of heat. I have especially oily eyelids so I always use an eyelid primer (Urban Decay Primer Potion) anyway and I would suggest you do the same if you notice you have shiny lids as well. But even without a primer (I tested both) they last about 5-6 hours before they start to fade.

There are subtle differences between these creams. The MAC paint pot is a metallic finish while the Maybelline color tattoo is shimmery. What's the difference? Glad you asked, you're so curious- you know I love that about you.

You can see in the picture on the left (color tattoo) that the light is refelected by shimmery particles within the cream. While the on the right (MAC which looks darker than it is in this picture, sorry) is extremely reflective without being able to see definite particles of shimmer. It's more a more even and natural looking shine I guess you could say. 

Swatches? Oh gosh, you know me so well.

Top: MAC "Indianwood"

Bottom: Maybelline "Bad to the Bronze"

Like I said, obviously they are not colour dupes. The MAC is a much more true gold while the Maybelline has more taupe and (not surprisingly) bronze undertones. 

Left: Bad to the Bronze

Right: Indianwood

Overall

Considering both products perform the same for me- creamy, pigmented and long-lasting plus the packaging is almost identical- I would have to say skip the MAC. It's twice as expensive and it has no benefit over the Maybelline Color Tattoos that I can see except that there are only two matte colours in the Maybelline line. The MAC paint pots are made to be used more like a base than worn alone (although they can be) so there are more matte shades. 

Don't get me wrong, I love my MAC paint pots, like the famous "Painterly" which is amazing and I use it every day as a base under my eyeshadow. But I mean, these Maybelline Color Tattoos are awesome, extremely similar and half the price, so if you haven't already invested in the MAC you might as well go for those.

Not to mention there are some crazy awesome colours in the Maybelline line! The MAC ones are all mostly browns, black and creamy nude colours but there are so many more colours with the Maybelline ones.

My favourites are a electric teal (Tenacious Teal), a shimmery emerald green (Edgy Emerald) and a bright fiery orange (Fierce and Tangy) along with a matte, neutral grey-taupe colour (Tough as Taupe). 

I will do a post shortly on how I use either of these bronze/gold bases and a very bright liner for a quick easy summer look!

As always, thanks for reading!

-Tash<3 

Review: Revlon Cream Blushes!

Hello friends!
I have a new review on the Revlon Photoready Cream blushes!
They are limited edition with this summer's "Escapism 2012" collection. The collection also included a bronzer, a mascara, some new shades of the ColourBurst lipglosses and some new shades of nail polish.
I did pick up the bronzer as well, but it was only okay for me. I like the product, it's smooth, matte, and makes a great contour colour- however if you're my skin tone or deeper it's probably not your best bet. If you're looking for a good bronzer and you're lighter than me, I would definitely suggest trying it out.

The cream blushes are what I was most excited about. They looked beautiful and were amazing colours for summer time. There are three shades that came out with the collection and of course I picked up all three!

I think the reason I was so excited about this is that cream blushes are an amazing summer time product. It's hot and sticky in the summer and the last thing you want to do is pile on a face powder, a powder bronzer, powder blush and powder highlight. It's ends looking like a cakey mess at the end of the day. But cream blushes look dewy and natural all day without feeling heavy. I was really hoping that these would be a great summer product.

On to the review!

They come in glass pots with a twist off lid. The packaging is really great quality and functional too. I really dislike when containers have extra glass around the bottom to make them look like the have more product (like the ELF cream blushes, if you've ever seen those). These thankfully are not like that, these are compact and have very little extra packaging which makes them great for travel. I also like that the shade name is on the lid and the bottom is clear. So no matter what side you see them first, you always know which colour it is! They are $12.99 each which does sound pricey but you don't need a lot of product per use and speaking as someone who wears makeup often, I've never finished a cream blush so I think they're worth it. 

The first colour in the line is #100 "Pinched" and like I said, it's the least bright/most natural colour.

It's a light peachy nude with some very fine shimmer in it. The shimmer is subtle, not chunky glitter. I heard this colour was not as pigmented as the other two and darker skin tones would not be able to wear it before buying. I highly disagree. I have used this several times and I think it works great even on darker skin. 

Even in a close up the shimmer is hard to see, it just provides a beautiful glow on when worn. 

The next shade in the line #200 "Flushed" is quite a bit brighter than the first one. 

Damn! That's a bright pink. This looks so so scary in the pot. But I promise you it's not nearly that bright on your cheeks and blends out really easily. No shimmer in this one, strictly matte pink colour. 

This is a somewhat cool-toned pink, which is great because I have some warm tones in my skin so they contrast and it helps to balance my face (which is a weird thing to say now that I think about it). 

And lastly, #300 "Coral Reef" which is the brightest/scariest looking shade of the bunch!

Yes, that is wonderfully orange. However just like the pink blush this is a sheer formula that blends easily. So when you wear this, it actually does show up as a coral colour. 

Again, no shimmer in this one. This one has a much warmer tone than the pink one does, which can end up looking kind of red on my skin, so I have to be careful with this one, but it's still beautiful. 

Overall

I really enjoy these cream blushes! There are not many good, pigmented cream blushes that come out of the drugstore. The NYC Blushable Cream Sticks are really good, but hard to find. They might seem pricey for the drugstore but they are much cheaper than a high end cream blush and well worth the money. 

The formula of these blushes is hard to explain. It's not quite as heavy as the Blushable Cream Sticks if you've tried those. They feel like a gel-cream hyrbid and they have that silky feeling that comes with silicone products like face primers. They sheer out but not so much that they aren't pigmented and they blend really nicely onto the skin.

Once they set, they aren't sticky or tacky like some cream blushes so they can be worn alone (without a powder blush on top). As for how long lasting they are, I would call them average. Even without a powder blush to set them, they remain their true colour, no fading for at least 5-6 hours which isn't bad in my opinion.

The colours are all really beautiful and I have used them all summer since I got them. 

Final thoughts: because these are limited edition, you should pick some up while they're still in stores because they are very much worth the money!

As always hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading!

-Tash <3