Tag: makeup review

Love It or Leave It: Brow Tinting!

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Thanks to @Dizzyd718 for making this photo available freely on @unsplash

Hey y’all!

So, if you’re an even semi-avid follower of beauty trends on Instagram nowadays, you’ll already know that semi-permanent makeup solutions are all the rage. Every day it feels like you hear of something new — lash lifting, eyelash extensions, microblading, ombre brows, brow laminating, makeup tattooing, lip injections, the list goes on.

These trends have often had my attention since the very beginning, but I’ve yet to really take the leap and try them out as it does seem like a commitment. However, as I begin to get busier with my current job, which requires I look put-together almost daily, the idea of stopping in for an appointment once a month becomes a lot less daunting compared to having to have flawless makeup applied every day.

However, when I finally took the leap it was entirely on a whim — while getting my eyebrows threaded about a month back, my brow lady finished up, and casually suggested that I should give brow tinting a shot — and I did.

This was really unlike me for so many reasons — I’m really not one to take such a permanent approach without fair research and prep, as my appearance is rather important to me. I also have a lot of allergies to non-food items, meaning there was a VERY likely chance I could have reacted negatively to the dye.

Luckily, not only did everything work out — it went amazingly. My brow lady reminded me a little hesitantly that sometimes people freak out about how dark their brows look, but after a day of getting used to it she was sure I would love it. However, it didn’t even take a day. I took one look in the mirror and was immediately sold — and honestly felt a little silly for not taking the leap on semi-permanent makeup for so long. My brows looked FANTASTIC, as if they were naturally perfect, and took an entire step out of my makeup routine going forward before work.

If you’re someone who doesn’t love wearing lots of makeup, or find you constantly are in a rush to get ready, give brow tinting a shot. In terms of semi-permanent brow solutions, it’s a lot cheaper and significantly more low-commitment than many alternative options. (While obviously prices change between salons, this service cost me $15.00). Ultimately, if you don’t love it, it’ll wear off in a couple of weeks — but if you do love it, you’ll be saving all kinds of time and money on daily makeup application.

For those of you, like me, who’ve never given semi-permanent makeup a go, I hope this review of my experience was helpful! Stay tuned for more posts like this — since I’m definitely going to be trying out more of these services in the near future.

Xo,

Meredith

Me, Sans Makeup, Post Brow Tint

Thursday Favourites: Halloween Edition!

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Best Halloween Makeup

Hey y’all!

This week I’m taking this post in a bit of a different direction — as it’s Halloween, I want to discuss ALL my favourite costume makeup! I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with crazy coloured makeup; I’m always so drawn to it when I see it in stores, but seldom buy any because I know I’m not going to have a lot of opportunities to wear it.

While I’m trying to branch out a bit, I almost never wear anything other than neutral, peach, smoky or gold eyeshadows save for Halloween, costume parties and music festivals. Still, it’s hard not to be tempted by bright bold palettes and shimmery duo-chrome eyeshadows every time you set foot in Sephora.

So, this week I wanted to share with you guys all the craziest coloured makeup I’ve ever bought that I consider to be the best of the best! That way, if you’re looking for a last minute palette to help create tonights look, or just LOVE crazy coloured makeup looks and are looking for something new, hopefully you’ll be able to find something for you from my list!

NYX Ultimate Brights Palette

NYX Ultimate Brights Palette

One of the biggest problems with colourful makeup is it’s hard to find a palette that covers the whole spectrum of colours without breaking the bank. It’s important to have something that covers every colour you’d ever need to ensure you can always blend out any look accurately. However, it seems wasteful to drop a whole lot of money building a palette of individual pots for this, as well, many colourful palettes offered at Sephora are expensive and only cover a certain range. This palette is AMAZING because it has so many colour options, as well as having an affordable price. The colours are bright and beautiful — they aren’t the most pigmented, but blend fairly well and can build up to look as bright as you need them to. If you’re looking for a good basic colour palette to cover all your needs, be sure to check this one out!

Check out this product here!

Huda Beauty Neon Obsessions Palettes

Huda Beauty Neon Obsession Palettes in Pink and Green

Okay. I am OBSESSED with these palettes (Get it?). Seriously though, even though I had no need to buy these, I knew I had to get my hands on them the moment I saw them. Huda Beauty eyeshadows are so smooth and pigmented, they blend flawlessly and always look fantastic. These neon palettes come perfectly fitted with colour combos that will help you nail ANY neon look, whether it’s for a Halloween costume or just a bold statement on a night out.

Check out this product here!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Single Pot Shadows

ABH Single Pot Shadows

These shadows are expensive, but oh-so worth it. Not only do they have SO many high quality options, but you can mix and match to create your perfect combo. Plus, they have duo chrome colours (!!!) which are one of my absolute favourite kinds of eyeshadow. These can really add that perfect colour and finishing touch to any crazy, colourful eyeshadow look. They’re so high quality, for crazy colours or natural smoky shades, you really can’t go wrong.

Check out this product here!

Chunky Glitter

Last but not least, chunky glitter is a MUST in your costume makeup collection. Not only does it instantly amp up any look — it has so many uses! My personal favourite is creating glitter freckles, but chunky glitter can also be added to your hair, highlight, collarbones, or even eyes and lips (given that it’s makeup grade and safe). A huge bonus on top of all that is that it can be super inexpensive. I own so much glitter, and most of it I got off Amazon, but if you’re looking for plain craft glitter you can find it in just about any Michaels or related craft store.

Check out this product here! (Or simply search Moon Glitter on Amazon for more options!).

I hope you all have a fantastic Halloween, whether you’re planning to go out, have a night with your family, trick or treat, watch horror movies or just have a nice fall-themed self-care night. If you’re dressing up, I’d love to hear all your creative costume ideas (or if you took inspo from my last-minute Halloween costume ideas, I’d love to see how they turned out!). I hope you’re all ready for November, and fingers crossed you achieve all your goals for the upcoming month!

Happy Halloween!

Meredith

Thursday Favourites: October 24th

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Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer

Hey everyone!

So after some deliberating last week, I’ve decided it makes a lot more sense for my personal schedule AND my blogging schedule to move this segment to Thursdays. So, without further ado, welcome to Thursday Favourites!

This Thursday I’m going to be discussing one of my fave lip glosses — the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer! This is one of the best and (as the name would suggest) most universal neutral lip glosses. Not only is it SUPER shiny and soft, it looks incredibly natural. This shade, without a doubt, would look great on any and every skin tone. It has a neutral pink colour to it, but mostly comes out as glossy clear with glitter, making it a great top coat as well.

This product is so high quality too — it’s long lasting, and doesn’t bleed into the skin surrounding your lips. It feels soft and moisturizing, and is a great staple to keep in a purse to throw on whenever you need a quick touch up. It makes a great everyday shade and pairs well with just about everything, so it’s great to keep with you wherever you go.

I haven’t yet gotten the chance to try any of the other new shades, but I’m waiting on a chance to test them all out. This product absolutely stole my heart, and I’m definitely going to go out and purchase another sometime soon. In general, I feel like it’s pretty hard to go wrong with Fenty Beauty — everything by the line is just next level and exceptional. 100% would recommend if you’ve never tried it. (Really, Rihanna can do no wrong!).

If you’ve been needing a great everyday gloss, be sure to check out the product on Sephora here — and be sure to stay tuned for my next Thursday Favourites!

Much love y’all,

Meredith

Tuesday Favourites: October 8th

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Fenty Beauty Contour Stick

Hey friends!

This week I’m going to share with you a product I recently bought and instantly fell in love with: The Fenty Beauty Contour Stick!

I was honestly a bit on the fence about this product when I bought it — not only had I not contoured in years, I had never used cream contour. I was rather daunted by it, and super uninformed. I thought that the matte look of this product wasn’t what I was looking for, as I’m not a huge fan of matte skin products. (Or matte anything, really. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how down I am for glowy, dewey looks).

However, this product turned out to be just what I was looking for! It contours beautifully — it has a great cool shade that mimics shadows naturally and doesn’t come off looking too orange or grey. I do find it a bit challenging to blend into my foundation with a blender, but so long as i touch up my foundation on top there’s no issues whatsoever.

If you feel daunted by how dark the shade is, don’t be! I was too at first, as I am incredibly pale. However, this product still looks natural on me and would certainly look fantastic on darker skin tones as well.

So for the first time in years, I’m finally able to create a sharp, contoured look for myself; my features look SO sharp and I get to avoid any fake-contour lines and blending errors. If you’re looking to try a creme stick to sculpt out your features, look no further!

If this sounds like the product for you, be sure to check it out at Sephora here!

Have a great day, lovelies!

Xo,

Meredith

Tuesday Favourites: September 24th (October 1st!)

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Lilly Lashes in “Hollywood”

Hey friends!

Okay so a little disclaimer, this was the post I had intended to make last week. I had it completely written out and everything, but hadn’t scheduled it, and was too busy at work to post it. I know it’s probably a little weird to post this in this context since obviously it’s no longer my birthday, but I still wanted to share! So without further ado, enjoy!

For this week I wanted to choose a very special product, because for me it’s a very special Tuesday — today is my 23rd birthday! I really wanted to share with you guys my all time favourite product, so I really put a lot of thought into what I would share with you guys this week. After a while, I started to realize that it was waaaaay too hard to find the perfect product, especially since I’m committed to only sharing the best with you guys, so really all of these products are special.

Around the time that I was writing this post, I shared a poll on my twitter account asking my followers which makeup product they could absolutely not live without. For me, it was easy — while I do LOVE highlighter with all my heart, I cannot go out feeling as I’m looking my best without lashes. I’ve tried many mascaras in my lifetime, but none of them blew me away to the extent that I felt that I could go without lashes. For me, falsies are the most important step to creating a polished, finished makeup look.

So this week, I’ll be sharing one of my all-time fave lash brands with you — Lilly Lashes! As you guys may remember from my last Tuesday Favourite lash post, I generally like a more natural look to my falsies. While the Sephora lashes look 100% natural, these lashes certainly look a lot more extreme — which can be exactly what you need for certain makeup looks.

I love pairing these especially with winged eyeliner, as it not only keeps the lashes from looking too extreme, but the lashes themselves are long enough you can still see them perfectly from a distance, even with heavy liner. They make a great bold look, and pair especially well with heavier makeup looks. (Edit: I ended up wearing these on my birthday and got endless comments from my coworkers about how fabulous they looked, so they really are fantastic!).

So, if the natural look isn’t really your thing, or you’re looking to try something a little more bold, give these lashes a shot! Not only are they beautiful, but they last forever so long as you care for them properly.

If you want to check this product out, you can find it on Sephora here!

Lots of love guys, thank you so much for reading!

Xo,

Meredith