Benefit Cosmetics Openinng First Ever Store and Salon In Canada

Guess what??? In a few weeks Toronto will be getting its first ever full stand alone Benefit Cosmetics beauty store that also offers salon and spa services! Opening at 2614 Yonge Street between Lawrence and Eglinton this will be the FIRST location the brand has opened north of the border! Now if only some other Canadian cities (Winnipeg, cough, cough) can be next!

Yves Rocher Flawless Skin Concealer Review

 

I was sent the new face makeup for Yves Rocher to review. For some reason, they sent me this concealer in pinky medium instead of pinky light. Unlike the foundations that are the perfect shade for me, this concealer is too dark. But as long as I don't use it under my eyes I can make it work.

And to give you an idea of its shade, I put it next to my benefit boi-ing concealer in 01 and my time balm concealer in lighter than light.

And its a PERFECT time to try out a concealer since my face has bee a pimply, broken out, red and irritated mess for the last week. Ever since my makeover last Friday! So here is my scary before pic.

As you can see its far too dark but it does have excellent coverage you could build up to cover pretty much everything if it matched well. Its creamy and soft and feels nice on.

And here it is blended as well as I could. I would have tried to build it up more if the shade was a better match.

The concealer retails for $16 but its on sale on the Yves Rocher website HERE for $9 right now. I think I may have to pick it up in the lightest pink shade Light Pinky.

MASCARA MONDAY - benefit Cosmetics Roller Lash Mascara Review

The new Roller Lash mascara is supposed to curl your lashes as it coats them. As someone with naturally fairly curly (or at least curly enough) lashes, its not an issue I need to deal with but I received a tube to try out and so I did. 

I saw the brush and instantly decided I didn't like it. I like big fat wands. Thin rubber or plastic wands like this? NO THANKS! But, then I tried it.

Now I desperately need to get my eyebrows done so please ignore the ungroomed mess they have become. And here is me with my natural, invisible lashes pre mascara application.

And here it is on one eye. The length it gives is quite remarkable.

And here it is on both eyes.

Now I must say, the formula was much drier than I anticipated. The dryness of the formula actually helped make it easy to apply. There was little smudging, no flaking and it lasted all day. And best of all, it came off quite easily with my Bioderma. Overall, I really like this formula!

Benefit the POREfessional: license to blot

BLOT on the spot! This instant oil-blotting stick with tiny invisible blotting spheres mattifies shine for up to 6 hours after application.* The specially designed triangular tip targets shiny zones…the sides of your nose, forehead and chin. Oil has finally met its matte! 

*instrumental test on 10 panelists
100% saw continuous mattifying action*
97% said it helps minimize the look of pores*
100% said it absorbs excess surface oil*
*consumer panel survey on 30 women over 7 days

Available now at Sephora and everywhere Benefit is sold (or at least its coming!!). Interested to try this. I love the primer though still haven't tried any of all the samples of the powder I have!

Benefit BaubleBar Collection For Spring 2015

First Stila, now Benefit. Bauble Bar seems all about that makeup lately. These sets all retail for $34USD and unlike the Stila sets, these dont seem to come with a gift card for the site. These sets are already up on the Benefit website. 

Bling Blow From Benefit

Light up the room with this sparkling set of Swarovski® crystals. Each set comes with 52 crystals in 2 colors and a pair of mini tweezers. Press the bling onto skin for instant glamour.

VIB Sale - Recommendations

So I have done an INSANE amount of holiday shopping already this season and have tried a lot of great holiday items. I also have a few left on my wishlist. But the number one thing I get asked is for recommendations on what I would get with the 20% VIB. Here are my top picks!

Blushes
There are quite a few blush items I have been extremely impressed with so far. The Benefit Cosmetics Cheeky Sweet Spot Box O' Blushes, Tarte Pin Up Girl Palette as well as the Ambient Lighting Blush Palette from Hourglass are all fantastic deals and great products. While there is really nothing limited edition or exclusive about the Benefit palette (though it looks they are retiring one of the shades from within it) the extreme value (5 half sized and one full sized blush) puts it on the list!

Bronzers 
This is something I dont have yet. But as someone who has almost bought the Too Faced bronzer to try 1000 times, this set seems the perfect little gift! You get to sample all four of their bronzers for one low price of $28! They  may be deluxe minis, but they are all there! This I am hoping to pick up this weekend

Eyeshadow Palettes
I have to say, I usually have very long lists of all my wants and recommendations in this department, but this year? Meh..... The Anastasia Beverly Hills Tamanna Palette is not quite my idea of perfect colour wise, but at $35 its a great priced limited edition palette that seems to get rave reviews. And if you are an Urban Decay fanatic, the Vice3 is always an option, though I think many brands have surpassed UD in both quality and performance.

Now, if chubby shadow pencils are your thing, well, forget that. Even if they are NOT your thing, pick these up anyways. Seriously amazing. The Laura Mercier Mini Caviar Stick Eye Colour Quartet was sold out online, came back up the other day and is sold out again (for good reason. These sticks are AMAZING! And a great deal) but if you can luck in to them in store, grab them!

Eyeliners
Well, look at me, recommending a set that is NOT Urban Decay! I still love their liners, but the Marc Jacobs ones are better. Seriously. $56 for 7 mini liners may not sound that great a deal, but they are 75% of the size of regular ones. One of my highlights of the season for sure!

Skincare

For skincare, I assume you all know where this is going. The Glamglow Gift Sexy! You pay for one sized amazing face mask, and you get two half sized ones for free. And while the YouthMud is their best selling most popular one, SuperMud (the white one) is my hands down favourite. And while I have not yet reviewed ThirstyMud on my blog (the review is coming!!) I really love it and am finding it my go to moisture mask.

Now for the most part, these sets I have shown you are amazing values and great ways to sample some high end luxe items (ambient lighting blushes, marc jacobs liners, Laura Mercier caviar sticks, Glamglow masks) for a fraction of what it normally costs and at the same time, it gives you a nice selection to really try out the lines. Also, sets such as the tarte and benefit and too faced are simply great ways to try cult classics you might have just always put on the "will try later" list!

Hope this guide was at least a bit of a help, and please! Let me know in the comments below what items you think are must haves!! Also, WHAT ARE YOU GETTING??!!

Upcoming On The Blog!

I want to apologize to all of you for all the PR announcements and promotional posts on my blog the past few weeks. I have had NO time recently to post swatches and reviews, but I am spending all this weekend getting caught up and getting up all these posts! Between Minneapolis, NYC, NYC and Toronto trips this past 4 weeks there has been no time at all for me to do anything. Stay tuned though for the Hourglass Ambient Light Blush Palette, the new Tarte blush palette, Laura Mercier gift sets, monthly subscription box reviews, and everything else that has been pilling up for the last month!

Glossy Box September Review And October Preview!

So what is in this upcoming box? How about a nails inc polish, FUL SIZED tarte lippie, deluxe mini perfume and two other items? All for $21?

• tarte power pigment (You’ll receive either the shade flush or awakening) FULL SIZE! Value $24 
• Vince Camuto Amore – .25 FL oz – Value $6 
• Nails Inc Westminister Bridge Matte Topcoat – FULL SIZE! Value $10

Oh, and you get a free $19 glamglow mask with code GBGLAM

SIGN UP HERE! DONT FORGET

THE COUPON CODE GBGLAM!!

Benefit Cosmetics 3 Scoops O' Sexy

What it is:
A limited-edition set with lip balms and lip and cheek tints.

What it does:
Get three gift sets in one. With full sizes of hydrating lip balms and complementing lip and cheek tints in Posiebalm, Benetint, Benebalm, Posietint, Lollibalm, and Lollitint, they’re individually packaged so you can give—and keep a little for yourself.

This set contains:
- 0.10 oz Benebalm lip balm in Rose
- 0.13 oz Benetint cheek and lip tint in Rose
- 0.10 oz Posiebalm lip balm in Poppy Pink
- 0.13 oz Posietint lip and cheek stain in Poppy Pink
- 0.10 oz Lollibalm lip balm in Candy Orchid
- 0.13 oz Lollitint lip and cheek stain in Candy Orchid

AVAILBLE NOW AT SEPHORA.CA FOR $50CAD

Benefit Cosmetics Advent Calendar

What it is:
A limited-edition, holiday advent calendar filled with 24 mini beauty essentials.

What it does:Get a beauty surprise everyday with this holiday countdown. Each day, open the sweet shop doors to reveal a Benefit bestseller or surprise gift. Keep it for yourself, or give it to a fellow beauty addict.

This set contains:
- 0.25 oz “That gal” brightening face primer
- 0.25 oz the POREfessional pore minimizer
- 0.08 oz Benetint cheek and lip stain in Rose
- 0.08 oz High beam liquid highlighter
- 0.08 oz Chachatint lip and cheek stain in Sheer Mango
- 0.08 oz Posietint lip and cheek stain in Poppy Pink
- 0.04 oz Stay flawless foundation primer
- 0.1 oz They’re real! mascara
- 0.22 oz Ultra plush lip gloss in Dandelion
- 0.22 oz Ultra plush lip gloss in A-lister
- 0.22 oz Ultra plush lip gloss in Fauxmance
- 0.14 oz BADgal lash mascara
- 0.08 oz Stay don’t stray concealer and eye shadow primer in Light/Medium
- 0.1 oz Fakeup concealer in 02 Medium
- 0.1 oz It’s potent! eye cream
- 0.3 oz Total moisture facial cream
- 0.08 oz Ooh la lift eye cream
- 0.08 oz Watt’s up! highlighter
- Beauty sticky notes
- Doodle pad
- Heart-shaped paperclips
- Pinky, polka-dot hair tie
- Elastic hair band with bow charm
- Metallic silvery hair tie

AVAILABLE NOW AT SEPHORA.CA FOR $119 OR $99USD

Haul From Minnesota!

So yeah, this is what you can expect to see in the upcoming days. I promise I will still review all the Chanel and MAC and such that I bought in Toronto, but I am going to hold off until I can finish and get caught up with all these new and limited edition sets so you can see them in time to make up your mind!

New GWP At Shoppers Drug Mart

So this is the new GWP that will be starting...... This Saturday I think..... Anyways, its starting soon and free with a $125 purchase from a Beauty Boutique. The gift looks ok, but the it seems far disappointing in comparison to the one that Murale just had. That being said, this fake Longchamp tote looks awesome and might be a reason by itself to pick up some goodies!