Bite Beauty Cashmere Lip Creams~ Swatches, First Impression

Bite Beauty is a fairly new brand on the block but it sure seems to pack a punch. The brand is well liked for it's high pigmentation and long lasting lip products and these new Cashmere Lip Creams $32 CND out for fall follow the trend. (There is also Port not pictured above but swatched below)

These I thought would be like a gloss or a liquid lipstick but they really aren't. The texture of them is quite unique in that they are very very thick. Almost a mix between a solid lipstick and a liquid lipstick. They have a huge amount of pigmentation in one stroke though so you do get bang for your buck here. All the shades are intense with the most subdued of the bunch Sancerre (not that it is very subdued at all). Plus thankfully unlike the glosses by the line this product doesn't have any noticeable scent that I detected while swatching.

T-B: Port, Sherry, Moscato, Rioja, Bordeaux, Sancherre

T-B: Port, Sherry, Moscato, Rioja, Bordeaux, Sancherre

Here is my impressions of the colours.

Sancherre is a medium-dark raspberry shade.
Bordeaux is a burgundy-brown (the second shot captures the colour slightly better for this shade)
Rioja is a true medium red.
Moscato is a bright neon pink
Sherry is a bright pumpkin orange
Port (my favourite!) is a darkened red, with a tinge of brown.

The applicator (sorry I forgot to take a picture of it) is a flat fuzzy paddle shaped thing which I honestly think is going to be a little difficult to get the hang of. I also think the formula will take some getting used to as it's quite thick. I honestly forsee some patience needed here!

Despite the possible application issues the opaqueness of these intrigues me! I know I'd love to get my hands on Port.

Has anyone else seen these yet? Have you bought one? Any issues applying? Let me know!

Darling Ghoul, Darling Girl Halloween Swatches and Review

I know I'm late to the party on this one, but my family has just moved houses and I've been going through midterms so trying to get my package has been difficult. I didn't get a chance to do lip swatches but Darling Girl's Halloween collection Darling Ghoul is one of the best Halloween releases of the year. I'm really happy with my order and wish I had gotten more. Though the shop is closed right now, Susan will have it back up after Halloween for a week before the limited edition collection will be taken down. 

My samples! Starting from the clam-shell clockwise: Going Batty Holo Gloss, Will-o-wisp Spectral Shift, Everything's Rosy Blush, New Grass e/s, Pumpkin Eater e/s, Darling Ghoul Sticker, Whimsy e/s, Incognito e/s

Starting from centre going down and clockwise: Corpse Candle Spectral Shift, Jack's Lantern e/s, Monarch e/s, Ghost Light spectral shift, Ghouls Gone Wild lip jelly,  Just Bitten Cream Blush, Poison Plum Kiss You Off Balm, Sweet Lips Sugar Scrub in Amaretto

A little bit about the products. Spectral Shifts are duochrome highlighters/eyeshadows/blushes in one. They can pretty much be used in any fashion you like and are completely awesome. The Sweet Cheeks Cream Blush is also multi-use in that it can also be used as a lip tint. In addition to this, I got quite a few shades from the core line so I'll make note of that  when I come to a swatch of those. First up is the lippie items.

L-R: Sheered layer of Ghouls Gone Wild Lip Jelly, Layered Just Bitten Cream Blush, Single layer Just Bitten Cream Blush, Layered Posion Plum Kiss You Off lip balm, Single layer Poison Plum lip balm.

L-R: Going Batty Holo Gloss single layer, Multi-layer Ghouls Gone Wild lip jelly, Single layer Ghouls Gone Wild, Multi-layer Just Bitten Blush, Single layer Just Bitten

L-R: Going Batty Holo Gloss layered, Single layer Going Batty, Multi-layer Ghouls Gone Wild lip jelly, Sheered Ghouls Gone Wild

Sweet Lips On The Go Sugar'd Lip Scrub in Amaretto

Sweet Lips On The Go Sugar'd Up Lip Scrub

 I was really impressed by the lip products I got from Darling Girl. My favourite has to be Poison Plum Kiss Me Off Lip Balm though. The colour is absolutely stunning for fall and I think it really suits all skin tones. A dark berry with a ton of gold and violet sparkle. The packaging is slim and easy to use, plus the label is waterproof, though it does overlap slightly. The balm itself is moisturizing and balmy in texture, but not so much that it slides around. It has a buildable texture so you can apply sheerly for a tint for layered for a lovely darker lip. I absolutely love it. Poison Plum costs $4.75 USD.
Mini Rating: 10/10 

Ghouls Gone Wild is very pretty but much more subtle than I was hoping. Certainly it is full of holographic glitter which is non-gritty but I was personally hoping it would impart more of a green tint when applied than it does. When you look at it in the pot, it has this amazing light green irredesence but this doesn't transfer to the lips, it really goes on clear. I also wasn't crazy about the pot, as though it was full I had to be really careful when opening it as the whipped texture had a tendency to drag and get outside the pot edge. It does feel nice on though, slightly moisturizing and non-sticky. Doesn't last too long however is better than some glosses I have. It will make a nice layering product. Ghouls Gone Wild Lip Jelly costs $4.25 USD.
Mini Rating: 7.5/10

Going Batty Holo Gloss at first looks scary and unwearable but is the exact opposite in reality. It's absolutely stunning and I wish I bought the full size product instead of just a sample. It's a dark-medium brown based gloss with holographic, orange, pink and green sparkle. On the lips it goes a pretty pink-brown with fantastic sparkle. I've never seen anything even remotely like it. It has a slightly stiffer texture than Ghouls Gone Wild but feels very similar on. Gloss-like with no stickiness and slightly moisturizing. It has decent wear-time for a non-sticky gloss too. I think it looks great on it's own and would be a nice addition over lipsticks in berry and wine shades too. The holo glosses cost $4.50 USD.
Mini Rating: 8.5/10

The Sweet Lips On The Go Sugar'd Up Lip Scrub is a wonderful product too. It is a sugar scrub that you can choose the flavour of out of 36 different flavours (that's a HUGE amount!). I chose Amaretto (my favourite alcoholic drink. I particularly love it mixed with strawberry daiquiri instead of rum. Yummy!), and I am SO glad I did. This smells amazing and exactly like Amaretto does (a sort of almond-cherry for those of you who haven't tried the drink). Plus it tastes awesome too, lovely and sweet without being overpowering. A bit tough to get the hang of, you only need the smallest amount of scrub from the top of the overpacked spin-up tube to sufficiently scrub dry patches from your lips. When you're done you can sort of rub/wash/lick away the excess. *guilty of licking* It doesn't leave much of a residue, though I kind of wish it did. Though I found my lips very soft and smooth afterwards, I did feel that I needed a balm after to really finish treating my lips as they felt a bit battered. This may be because I used a bit much on my first go though (I'm still experimenting with perfecting exactly the right amount to use- you need so little it's hard to estimate at first.) Overall, this is the best lip scrub product at the most decent price I've found to date. Most of the bigger brand companies only offer lip scrubs at exorbitant prices in pots. I love not having to dip my finger in a pot then transferring it to my lips afterwards. This lip scrub costs $5.50 USD.
Mini Rating: 9/10

Just Bitten Sweet Cheeks Cream Blush was originally made as a dupe for the Tarte for True Blood Cheek Stain, and I have to say I like the texture of this one even more! Though slightly expensive for the size at $6.50 USD you need so little of this product to get the needed amount for your cheeks it will take you quite an amount of time to get through the pot. It's a beautiful red flush with a very subtle and spread-out gold shimmer (you can only sometimes barely see it). I do wish the gold showed up a bit more personally but others who complained about the Tarte True Blood one having too much gold shimmer will like and appreciate this one. This product spreads well and sinks in super quick. Despite some of the main  ingredients being oils they aren't bad for your skin oils but instead ones that are good for it instead- meaning it won't break you out. I love the flush this gives and it makes me want to try out other shades from the Sweet Cheeks range. I'm not too sure I like the pot, just because I find it kind of deep so as I go through it I can see having to angle my finger weird to get product out and I don't like grooves near my blush/gel products because I'm spoiled and messy and am likely to eventually get product stuck in the  threads.
Mini Rating: 8/10

Whimsy eyeshadow (Main Collection)

New Grass eyeshadow (Main Collection)

Everything's Rosy Blush (Main collection)

Incognito eyeshadow (Main collection)

T-B: Ghost Light Spectral Shift, Pumpkin Eater eyeshadow, Will-o-Wisp Spectral Shift 

L-R: Monarch eyeshadow (Main collection), Jack's Lantern eyeshadow, Will-o-Wisp Spectral Shift 

T-B: Corpse Candle Spectral Shift, Ghost Light Spectral Shift, Pumpkin Eater eyeshadow

L-R: Pumpkin Eater eyeshadow, Ghost Light spectral shift, Corpse Candle spectral shift

I tried to get these as colour accurate as possible but some of them are off or only showing one part of the duochrome effect. I tried but I wasn't as successful as I'd hoped to be. All the eyeshadows and spectral shifts came with sticker-sealed shifter tops on them.

The spectral shifts are lovely products. Well pigmented and slightly washed out shades they have awesome duochrome to them. I LOVE Corpse Candle and Ghost Light- both are truly unique and pretty. Corpse Candle is a light grey with lavender duochrome. Ghost Light is a washed-out teal/medium blue with lighter blue duochrome. Exactly what a ghost-light I think would look like. The shade is really other-worldly and ethereal. It's not as bright as the pictures show it to be in real life. Will-o-Wisp is a slightly coral pink shade with slight blue reflect. Another really unique shade though I'm not quite sure how it will look as a blush I'm highly tempted to try it as such. 

Spectral Shifts Mini Rating: 8.5/10

Pumpkin Eater is a bright orange metallic shade with really small green glitter. I was a bit disappointed with this one as I was hoping for a more obvious/denser green sparkle as it is really subtle. It is a very pretty shade though.

Jack's Lantern was the last of the Halloween eyeshadows I got. It is a black-plum shade with a medium/dark purple/burgundy highlight. It's supposed to represent the glowing cut out portions of a Jack-o-Lantern. I think the colour idea is a great one and I get the feeling of the inspiration from it but personally find it a bit too black/charcoal-like. I had to layer it quite heavily to get the burgundy/aubergine aspects to really show up.

Mini Rating for the Halloween Eyeshadows: 6.5/10

Monarch eyeshadow was the Gift with Purchase for the week that I purchased my order from. It's a reddened brown with super-sparkly blue/green shimmer. It's reminiscent of Mac Club though not as duochromy or dark as that and less green. It also reminds me a bit of Fyrinnae's Sumatran Tiger eyeshadow. It's a nice shade that was prettier than expected because of it's uber shimmer but one I don't think I'll use too often.

Whimsy is a light grey shade with a light green duochrome. Very pretty and subtle but an interesting everyday shade. It was well pigmented too.

New Grass was a free sample from my purchase. It's a bright grass green with an interesting but subtle purple/red glitter. Not obvious enough to make it look christmasy or strange but unique for sure. 

Incognito was my other free sample with purchase. A bright reddened purple shimmer. It's very rich and pigmented. 

Eyeshadows Mini Rating: 7/10

Everything's Rosy Blush is a yellow based medium pink with very faint gold in it. It is very pigmented so you'd have to go extremely light when applying this but it is a nice shade. Not too unique but pretty.

Mini Rating 6.5/10

Darling Girl has a slightly long TAT (Turn Around Time) of about 14-16 buisness days but everything is well packed and her samples are generous. Plus I got little goodies with my order (a package of Candy Corn a Darling Girl Sticker and two Halloween rings which was cute). The variety of product sizes was great (most things have a sample size, a small size and a large size). The prices are also reasonable and the shipping is low. Plus Susan the owner is an absolute sweetheart to speak to in person or over facebook. Plus she keeps a blog that regularly updates with information about what is happening in her life, what is going on at Darling Girl and upcoming products.

The most popular products from the Darling Ghoul collection are Poison Plum Lip Balm, Ghost Light Spectral Shift, Bats in the Belfry eyeshadow and Jack's Lantern eyeshadow, if you want a starting point at what to look for!

Sprite Overall Rating: 9/10

Would I buy from Darling Girl Cosmetics again? Yes! I'd love to try more of their products. This company is so unique and the quality is really there. Not to mention the sheer variety of products!

NOTD: WnW Sea Witch and Color Club I always get my 'Man'darin

Click large to see the lime green shimmer in the orange!

 So I was quite bored last weekend and decided to do up my nails with two of my new nail polishes- Wet n' Wild's Sea Witch from their new Summer Collection and Color Club's I always get my 'Man'darin from their brights collection.

At first I was going to pass by both polishes because I was sure I had something similar and I've never been a big bright/neon fan. However the subtleties of these two polishes are really pretty and unique. 'Man'darin is a gorgeous super bright orange but in it there is this amazing hard to photograph lime green shimmer. It totally blows my mind every time I look at it. Totally intense and summery, I'm really happy I got it even if I find I can't have it on every nail due to it's intensity.

Sea Witch is also pretty awesome. Firstly, I love the fact that it's named after Ursula from the Little Mermaid. It is the perfect colour for her a deep rich red based purple with a neat light blue shimmer. The shimmer only really shows up in full sun but I really like it- almost a lit from within quality to it.

As for the formulas they aren't that great. Both polishes don't cost very much but I was disappointed with both of these polishes, though for different reasons. 'Man'darin though applies smoothly really needs four coats to be opaque and doesn't wear well. I've found that it starts to chip two days after application. 

Sea Witch on the other hand has a wretched brush and a super thick difficult to work with formula. It lasts fairly well but it's a pain to apply and it needs two to three coats to become opaque. I'm definitely going to need to add polish thinner to this one. 

Overall I do like both the polishes and would recommend them for their unique colours but not their formula. 

Would I buy them again? I'd probably buy 'Man'darin again because I adore the colour so much but Sea Witch's formula was so so difficult to work with I wouldn't purchase a second time.

Overall Rating: 'Man'darin- 6/10, Sea Witch- 5/10

Annabelle Jungle Belle for Spring 2011

Though I’m late to the ball game on this one, Annabelle released their Spring collection about a month ago, and if you’re into orange and pink this is likely to interest you. Included in the collection are three eyeshadows all of which are trios. They all have overspray but the colours underneath I think are quite lovely as well.

Also included is a pencil liner, two liquid glitter liners, a leopard bronzer and two shades of lip gloss pencil.

The Leopard Bronzer is named after the title of the collection, Jungle Belle. 

Personally although I like the Leopard Bronzer it’s too similar to the Too Faced version to be unique or interest me. Plus we’ve all seen bright electric blue liners before too. 

The three eyeshadows as you can see are named Savanna Sun (a warm brown, a coral pink and a medium orange), Tropic Thunder (a medium bright blue, a dark blue and a light celery green), and Exotic escape (a light lavender, a baby pink and a medium grass green). Though not shown there are two glitter liners Amazonian a dark yellow-based green and Wild Blue a dark blue.

Lastly is the two gloss pencils- Florish and Fauvish, A bright medium orange and a pale yellow-based pink. These are $7.99 each.

So what do you think, do you like the looks of Jungle Belle or are you going to pass?

Nars Eyeshadow Duo in Cheyenne~ Review

I received my Sephora order from when the two Nars eyeshadow duos were on sale for $10 USD. They couldn't have come at a better time because this week has been one straight from hell. Completely miserable and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. But I figured even though I feel crappy, I decided I reallllly needed to update.

In light

In Shade

Both eyeshadows in this duo are very pigmented and close to metallic. You barely need to touch the brush to either colour to get an abundance of colour payoff. I found the orange (almost copper!) colour to be slightly more pigmented and buttery than the burgundy but they were both exceptional.

Finger swatched (only one swipe)

From the finger swatch

Both are great Autumn colours, especially as accent colours. For the $10 USD ($11 CND) this was completely worth it. For the normal price, $32 USD it's a bit too steep for me, though they are very lovely.

Overall Rating: 9/10- One mark off for the normal price of $32 USD!

Make Up Forever Aquarelle Swatches

From when these first came out I wondered what the heck they were. Little vials of pigment powder? A gel? Liquid? And what were they used for? I finally took the time to find out this weekend and here are the answers for you!

Aquarelle is a water based thick liquid paint-like substance for the face and body. Only the slightest amount is needed for pure powerful pigmented packed colour. Sephora only carries twelve of the 21 shades but the selection is still good and these are multi-possible-usage items too.
Eyes and Cheeks: 3 (Royal Blue), 6 (Apple Green)
Lips and Cheeks: 7 (Bright Primary Red), 8 (Safety Orange), 10 (Yellow-based Pink), 19 (Blue-based Pink)
Eyes, Lips and Cheeks: 1 (Black), 2 (White), 9 (Bright Primary Yellow), 11 (Violet/ Medium-Dark Purple), 15 (Metallic Gold) and 21(Pearly White)

The Colours my Sephora had-
Top Left to Right: 10, 8, 9
Bottom Left to Right: 3, 7, 11, 19, 15

Top row, Left to Right: 15 (Gold), 19 (Blue-based Pink),  9 (Yellow),  11 (Violet)
Bottom row, Left to Right: 8 (Orange), 7 (Red), 10 (Yellow-based Pink), 3 (Royal Blue)

I think these are best for make-up artists and fantasy artists as these are perfect for crazy stage make-up. I think they'd also make an interesting liquid liner for the eye but I'm not sold on these for everyday use. They are supremely pigmented though so they may make a nice lip colour but I didn't want to try it. My favourites out of the ones I saw were the Violet one (# 11), the Royal Blue one (# 3) and the Gold one (# 15). The gold truly looked like liquid metal on my hand so I was very impressed by that one, especially as it doesn't look gold when it's in the bottle. Open it up however, and you can see the jewel-like liquid inside.
Overall it's an interesting make-up item. Definitely more of a speciality item, even more so when you factor in one little bottle is $20 CND. What do you think? Are they pigmented enough to possibly have major use for you or are they just too strange for your wallet to feel the urge to spend.

NOTD: Eyeko Vampira and Halloween Makeup Tips

Vampira is a lovely polish. Most of the time it looks black, thus giving a very gothic feel but when the light hits it-

BAM! Amazing red glitter! I love this polish. The name is perfect for it and I think it gives the perfect elegant dark mistress touch!

This polish went on without a struggle which was much appreciated after both Rain and Indigo caused me issues. This takes two to three coats for an opaque finish and the glitter is apparent when you rotate your nails in the light for the most part, just not from a distance. I also recommend a top coat as this seems to need some extra oomph to make it shiny and glass-like which is how I prefer my darker colours to be.

It also seems to be wearing better than Indigo as well with a couple small chips and minor tip wear after four days which is about average for my polish. (I apologize for my super short nails, they decided to have a breakdown quite literally with peeling and breaking all at once after I removed Indigo and I was forced to give them the cut. *Sigh*)
Anyways I think this is a great polish, though I did notice it seemed to look scuffed up very quickly.

Rating: 8/10 Not quite as much red glitter as I would have liked and seemed to scuff up and thus look cloudy easily.

 As a bonus for this post, since I'm being a Vampire-thing for halloween I decided to include some make-up tips and hints for costumes.

1. Make-up is a great cheap way to really flash up your look, and halloween is the one time of year when more is well more! Don't be afraid to go crazy with your look.
2. Do a Make-up trial run or 'dress rehearsal' before the big night or witches party. Finding out it takes 15 minutes to get the eye look you want or that it takes 30 minutes to get false eyelashes on right before you need to leave is not going to lead to a great start to the night.
3. Hunt through your make-up stash for items that will already work before you hit the drug store. For example, I'm going to be a vampire and thus I want to be even paler than I am. How to do this? Use a matte white eyeshadow (I recommend Annabelle's Snow).
4. To get a darker lip colour of any shade of lipstick you have put on a thin sheer coat of black lipstick (easily available this time of year) and then apply the lipstick over top and smoosh around on your lips. This is a great way to get more bang for your buck!
5. Futuristic looks are easy to pull off if you have any highlighers or illuminators. Just put them on all over, especially if they are silver, gold, bronze or a mix of these. Metallics in other colours make great futuristic contrast. 
6. A ghost is really easy for a last minute costume. Find white pjs, cover your face with white eyeshadow, take a white eyeliner pencil and colour in your brows and line your eyes and inner rims too. Take foundation and cover your lips. If you have a lip safe blue eyeshadow (any shade and finish of blue!) pat it lightly on top of your lips and presto! Instant ghost. (This is also a great base for a zombie look too! All you need after that is some blood and stitches.)
7. If you've got a more complex costume, don't be afraid to bring you're makeup down from just your face. Black liquid liner makes excellent temporary tattoos.
8. Try to avoid halloween face paints if you can. I only say this as they're not up to the standards of regular make-up for the most part, especially if you're sensitive in any way or acne-prone. That being said don't go out and buy a bunch of products you're only going to use once either. Sometimes opting for a mask or a half mask is the way to go.

Wet n' Wild Sleep Walker over WnW Black Fog.
Pretty Orange Shimmer in Black :D
Left with top coat, right without top coat (it obviously really needs one don't you think?)

Wet n' Wild's Sleep Walker
Awesome Haunted Halloween colour!

NOTD: Wet n' Wild Inferno

I love this polish! This to me honestly screams pumpkins, and orange autumn leaves at me. It's a warm orange with gold shimmer and at times looks like it's lit from within. My Dad described it best when he called it Pumpkin Spice, as it's exactly what a pumpkin looks like. Wet n' Wild Inferno is an awesome colour I think everyone needs, even if only for October. It costs $2.99 CND and is available at Zellars and Walmart here in Canada. The formula is good too in that it applies very nicely almost opaque in one coat but two to top it off. 

Sunlight to show off gold shimmer

The only issue I had with this was that it started to chip quickly, which is disappointing, but with how easily it applied (No brush strokes at all!), and it dried fairly quickly I don't think this is too much of an issue.

The bottle contains 10 ml of polish. The cap is really cute in my opinion with the flower swirls but it is a little awkward to hold until you get the hang of it.

Overall Rating: 8/10 because it does start to chip and show tip wear very quickly, though the colour is wonderful and the application like butter.

Annabelle Volume Lip Plumping Gloss Swatches

I know how hard it is to try and find swatches of drug store products online, let alone Canadian cosmetic brands. So recently when I was in Zellars I saw the Annabelle Volume Lip Plumping Gloss testers out and quickly wiped out my iphone for some not so great pictures and swatches.

These bright coloured glosses are said to gently plump lips as well as hydrating and being non-sticky. I can vouch for the non-stickiness as wiping these off my arm was a breeze. 

These glosses go for around $8.59 CND and come in six colours. I couldn't do all six as Iced Spice was missing from the tester display. Sorry! (Who would steal a lip tester? I mean gloss isn't something you could sanitize even. Eww!)

Top to Bottom: Sweet Tweet, Poetic Mauve,  Vivid Volume, Metro Mango, and Cherryoke

Each gloss is highly pigmented, even slightly sheered out as you can see. The packaging is rather stiff so it's a little difficult to get out (which is why there is so much of each gloss!) but I think with a little practice this wouldn't be too much of an issue. 

Top to Bottom: Sweet Tweet, Poetic Mauve,  Vivid Volume, Metro Mango, and Cherryoke

Sweet Tweet is an Angelic pearly baby pink, Poetic Mauve is my favourite, a medium purple with an ice blue reflect throughout, Vivid Volume is a medium yellow based pink- a colour I think I can be worn by anyone- Metro Mango is a bright almost neon pumpkin orange, and Cherryoke is a similar bright red cherry. Honestly I reallllly wanted to get one of these, and I do plan on getting one, but I'm desperately trying to save my pennies up for the Mac Tartan Tale collection. But when I do I'm very much leaning towards the Poetic Mauve, and of course I'll review it! 

Canadian girls (and guys!) anyone else suddenly get a lemming for these beauties?