Hey everyone! This post is going to be all about my March Monthly Favourites. These are going to be mini reviews of all the products that I reached for most in March. If you want some more in depth reviews just leave a comment below and I can add that to my "To-Do List". Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to follow my blog for updates on all my posts :)
First off I am going to talk about the Smashbox Full Exposure Palette. This palette features 7 shimmer shades and 7 matte shades that range from warm to cool. At first I wasn't a big fan of this palette because the shimmer shades are not all that pigmented, and they do have a bit of fall out. However once I started to use the shimmer shades with my Fix+, I found that I loved the foiled effect they gave on my lids. The matte shades are highly pigmented and they blend beautifully! The brush included with the kit is also amazing. The blender side is very similar to my MAC 217 brush and the fluffy shade really applies the shadow well. See below for swatches. I only swatched the shimmer shades dry.
The other really neat thing about this palette is the eye-shape chart. They researched and examined over 5000 sets of eyes to determine the main eye-shapes. They then included an easy to follow chart that gives you looks to best enhance your eye-shape. This chart can be used with any of your current palettes as well as with this palette. Price is $59CND and can be found at select Shoppers Drug Mart locations as well as at sephora.com and murale.ca.
This is a blush from Smashbox Cosmetics called Paradise. I really love the blushes from Smashbox because they are highly pigmented and the colour selection is great. This is a coral blush with a slight gold shimmer. The shimmer particals are very small, it would be in the same family as Orgasm from NARS. This shade of Smashbox blush is not available at Shoppers Drug Mart however you can find it at your local Sephora or at sephora.com. It retails for $29CND.
This Clinique brow pencil is one of my all time favourite brow products. It features a "superfine" pencil tip. They have a wide variety of colours as well. This pencil is in the colour Auburn. It has a bit of a waxy texture so it really helps to hold your brows in place, and also doesn't deposit a dark line. It is easy to feather onto the brows to create a natural look, but defined look. I use a powder first, this second and then a coloured brow gel last. You can find this as select Shoppers Drug Mart locations for $18CND or at Murale.ca.
The Shiseido Sheer Eye Zone Corrector is designed to neutralize discolouration around the eye area. They have 6 shades, making it easy to match (most) skintones. How the product works is they have 101,102,103,104,105,106. The even numbers (102,104,106) are designed with a specific undertone to CORRECT the discolouration under the eyes. The odd numbers (101,103,105) are designed to HIGHLIGHT around the high points of the face. I really loved the concept, although it seems a little expensive to have to purchase 2 products to highlight and correct when we have items like YSL's Touche Eclat that can do both. However I have the shade 102 for my undereye area and I am loving the results. It really helps to cancel out the blueish tinge under my eyes. I find it doesn't work well with a mineral powder on top, I have to use a different setting powder. It is an easy quick fix for times when I don't feel like doing a lot of steps in my routine to leave me with a flawless complexion. This costs $32CND and can be found at select Shoppers Drug Mart Locations.
Last makeup related product in the line up is Stila's Stay All Day Vinyl Lip Gloss. Now when they say stay all day, they really mean it! This product is fantastic for lasting power. It is a very sticky product, however it is worth it for the pigment and staying power that you get. I use a Lise Watier lip liner just to seal in my edges for no bleeding, and apply this product. One coating gets me full opaque colour! I have the shade Scarlet and I plan on getting more. $32 at select Shoppers Drug Mart locations and murale.ca
On to skincare! Now I know I am still young, but I couldn't resist trying out a retinol based product, and boy am I not disappointed. First of all, this product is very thick (mostly based on the SPF30 I believe). I would usually suggest retinols at night time but this is the product that I got. The NIA-114 molecule patented by StriVectin helps the retinol enter the skin without irritation. I was nervous about burning, or peeling but I had none of those reactions. After about 25 days of daily use, I have found my skin is smoother and I have had less breakouts. Even one of my fine lines seems to have reduced. As mentioned I would suggest going for the Night time version of this cream which can be found at most Shoppers Drug Mart locations in the derm section for $120CND. Worth every penny (which I guess means nothing in Canada, since we don't have pennies anymore...)
Last of my March favourites is Lancome's Advanced Genifique. This is a powerful activating serum that sometimes I will layer with other serums to give them an extra boost. The difference between a serum and an activator is that this product actually acts as a catalyst to promote your other products to work more effectively and penetrate deeper into the skin. I am unsure how much I believe that it helps with genetic aging since I am not sure a serum can really help with your genetics...however the texture of the serum is amazing and it really helps to keep my skin looking radiant and plump. They re-vamped the serum and now it feels even silkier, and has the hyaluronic acid to help retain moisture in the skin so my skin feels even better with this. You can find it at select Shoppers Drug Mart locations and at murale. If you want to find it online it is best to visit lancome.ca. The size that I have is a 30ml, prices start at $96CND.
Well that is all for my March Monthly favourites. Lets see how long I can keep on top of these monthly things!! Hope you enjoyed the post. Please leave a comment below with any of your feedback, share on twitter, facebook and instagram ectect.
Until next time!
Amye89xoxo
Until next time!
Amye89xoxo
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