Bronzers Comparison Swatches!

When swatching the lighter of the two shades of Julep bronzing powder I thought it was too dark for me.

Now from left to right is the Julep Pore Minimizing Bronzer in Light Golden Bronze, Guerlain Terracotta Mineral Flawless Bronzing Powder in 01 Light, Clarins Summer Fever Blush Soaleil Sun Blush in 00 Copper Sun, Guerlain Terra Inca Sublime Radiant Powder and Marc Jacobs Omega Bronze in 102 Tantric.

Now each one is swatched in the order shown above and with the exception of the Julep, each one is swatched REALLY heavily. Like 5-6 swipes of each. As you can see the Marc Jacobs and the Clarins ones are almost as dark as the Julep, but whereas those two are heavily built up with multiple swatches, the Julep one is swatched with only one swipe (though very heavily). So its just far more pigmented than the others. Its also so much softer (even than the Guerlain or Clarins powders) and thus....... it sounds weird to say the pressed blush is more powdery than the powdered mineral bronzers but it is.

Overall, I think its not as dark as I thought it was, its just so much more pigmented that its just far far too easy to get too much (that being said please don't think I would even try to put it on my face so heavily, its merely swatched like this to show you on the skin). I think if you are as pale as me it will be very hard to get a natural and subtle look with this but at the same time I think you certainly could. Overall, the Guerlain Mineral is certainly my favourite followed closely (ok, not SOO closely) by the Marc Jacobs. The Clarins is also a go too for me in the summer but it has a bit more of a satin as appose to matte finish that prevents it from being as much of a must have.

Guerlain Kisskiss Holiday Look Trio

I really love the idea of this set. As someone who is not a big red lipstick or red nail polish wearer though, I kind of wish that the shades were anything else!

What it is:
A holiday trio with Guerlain’s Rouge Kiss KissKiss Lipstick, Rouge d'Enfer Nail Color, and Black Maxi Lash Mascara.

What it does:
Get a bold, luxe look with this lip, polish, and mascara set. The lacquer shade combines bold color that can be paired with Guerlain's KissKiss lipstick and lacquered shine that lasts and lasts. Bring intense, defined volume and curl to lashes with the high-performance polymer trio infused in Maxi Lash Mascara. Top it off by letting lips go glamorous with Rouge Kiss Kiss, a shaping cream lip color. Red-hot beauty comes together with this head-turning makeup set.

This set contains: 
- 0.12 oz Kiss Kiss lipstick in 325 Rouge
- 0.33 oz La Laque Couleur nail polish in Rouge D'Enfer
- Maxi Lash Mini mascara in 02 Violet

AVAILBLE AT SEPHORA.CA FOR $58 HERE

FAB & FREE Murale Gift With Purchase!

I possibly went a little crazy at Murale on Chanel and thus got the big gift with purchase (requiring a $125 purchase). Thought I would share it with you all. Its actually the best GWP I think I have ever gotten! 

A big bag that I actually really like!

First up!

• Lip Fusion Plump & Shine Lipstick mini .04oz  $9.54
• Clean Cool Cotton Eau de Parfum deluxe mini roller ball 5ml $11
• Benefit Stay Flawless mini deluxe 1.2g $3.04
• Bioderma Sensibio H2O 20 ml $1.35
• Strivectin Advanced Retinol Concentrate Serum 7ml $30
• Rodial Super Food Oil 10ml $26.67

• Clarins Bust Beauty Extra Lift Gel 15ml $20
• Deborah Lippmann Believe Nail Lacquer 8ml $10.82
• Dr Roebucks FACE 25ml $14.99
• Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate 10ml $26
• Lamcome Advanced Genifique 8ml $22.40
• Estee Lauder Perectionist Wrinkle Lifting Serum 7ml $18.20

• Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet 10ml $10
• Ojon Instant Restorative Hair Serum 15ml $19 (full travel size!)
• Elizabeth Arden Prevage Anti Aging Dialy Serum Deluxe 5ml $21
• Juicy Couture Vive La Juicy 1.5ml $1.65
• Eve Lom Cleanser 5ml & Muslim Cloth $13.84
• Darphin Dtimulskin Plus Diving Illuminating Eye Cream 2ml $20

• Tata Harper Skincare Resurfacing Mask 7.5ml $17
• Skyn ICELAND Hydro Cool Firming Forehead Gel 6g $4.81
• Juice Beauty CC Cream 5ml $4.20
• Smashbox Photo Finish Pore Minimizing Primer Deluxe $7.50
• Fekkai PrX Conditioner 59ml $7
• Fekkai PrX Shampoo 59ml  $7

• Filorga Meso+ Absolute Wrinkle Serum 20ml $63.33
• Monteil Elixir Metamorphose Instant Facelift Serum 3ml $8.80
• Guerlain Abeille Royale Youth Serum 3ml $17.00
• B Kamins Bamboo and Rice Facial Polisher 7g $2.59

• Stila deluxe lip glaze in Strawberry Lemonade 1.5ml $12.26
• Clinique Long Last Lipstick in All Heart FULL SIZED $19

• YSL 3 shade lipstick sample - not pricing this!

So all in all this is what I am keeping! Out of a whopping $449.99 in value (excluding the YSL card and the makeup bag itself) I am keeping $272.39!!

And this is what my mom is getting, a total value of  $177.60 in swag! Not too shabby for either one of us! :

Aquarella Meteorites for Guerlain Summer 2014

New and limited edition are these aquarella meteorites from Guerlain. What this colour combination will do compared to the others? I am not quite sure. Are they gorgeous? They sure are! But to be honest, since Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders, I can't say I am reaching for meteorites anymore! So I will do my best to be well behaved and avoid them. If however they happen to fall into my shopping cart at Sephora, its not my fault!

Terracotta Sun Collection For Gurlain Summer 2014

Now I think that I have been pretty clear about the fact that I am glow in the dark white. I seriously think I am somehow related to Casper the friendly ghost somewhere along the line. I am THAT white. So as you can probably guess, me and bronzers have a bit of a......... lets just say we aren't best of friends. I WANT to embrace the bronze, hell, I could use the colour! But they usually just dont work. You know which ones do though? Guerlain. They make the most GORGEOUS bronzers that look natural on me without looking orange or muddy or like a big hot mess. And they also happen to be gorgeous. So I can't not show you the new collection for Summer 2014. Now yes, the lips and nail offerings are pretty.

But do you see these?!!! Look how friggen gorgeous the palettes are! I kind of hope that they aren't going to work on my skin tone because they come at a hefty pricetag! Just love these!

The Exclusive Beauty Swag Bag From The Bay

So who else is digging this swag bag from The Bay? Until this Thursday, spend $60 or more (thats just two of the new dior cream blushes. Just sayin.....) and you get a SEVENTEEN PIECE gift with purchase. I am not quite sure if its automatic, as it doesn't seem to have a coupon code attached to it.

Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eye Palette In 04 Les Bois De Rose

I picked up this quad at Sephora. For $64 its pricey but I am head over heels in love with every single product of theirs I have ever tried so I didn't think much of the price tag. And I must say I love the colours and they were not the same boring browns that I always wear (ok, at least two of them aren't  lol!).

Like my Chanel and Dior shadows, these come in a velvet pouch. The case is a metallic case that will show every single fingerprint and speck on it. Not sure I am a fan of the metallic gold case, but it does look/feel luxurious.

Now I tried to swatch these, but they just did NOT want to cooperate. As you can see, the matte brown is almost invisible, and the pink the two centre ones are patchy. The darkest brown one is the best of them all, but still not very good. This was at least 3 or 4 swipes of each to get the swatches you see below. All in all, it was a complete and total fail. I have never been so disappointed in a Guerlain product before, and I would not have believed I could be had you told me that. I ended up returning this to Sephora. It is sadly a gorgeous palette but only when looking at it. NOT when using it.

Cleaning The Stash - The Brushes

So this is my brush stash. I definitely have more than I need, yet there are certainly holes in the collection that need filling. 

I have recently  moved the stash into this:

The one place I really lack nothing and have more than enough of is eye brushes.

The shadow brushes:

The crease brushes:

Angled/Liner brushes:

A few others:

Here is one more eye brush that I left out of the pics as I had just purchased it and it wasn't IN the stash when I took the photos. These two are my first experiences with smashbox and I must say I am IN LOVE! They are so soft and work really really well.

This brush, the smashbox 19 is AMAZING! Its a face and body brush and I tend to use it for a translucent powder as my finishing brush. It retails for 52.00 in the USA and I think it was $65 here in Canada and worth EVERY penny.

As you can see, my concealer brushes really vary in size and shape. The benefit one is very much like a smaller version of a foundation brush. The Chanel one is actually my least favourite as a foundation brush and I tend to use it more as an eye brush. It just is not a shape that works much for in any way as a concealer brush. The Trish McEvoy point brush is really my go to for foundation.

For foundation I have the Bobbi Brown and an elf one. The elf one is not bad, but it is in no way good or great. Its just meh. And the BB one is good. I tend to stick to my Laura Mercier sponges. But I have recently fallen in love with Chanel one and it is next on my shopping list.

For face brushes, here are two of my favourites in this picture. The Mary Kay cheek brush has a flat top and I really love everything about it! And the Edward Bess brush. What can I say about this? It is the Edward Bess Luxury Face Brush and it retails for $56 if I recall correctly. It is my bronzer brush, half the time its also my blush and powder brush. It is just perfect. It is so soft, it is dense enough to hold the powder well without eating it, and it is perfect to control.

As I said when discussing concealer brushes, this brush from Trish McEvoy is my favourite. It was a limited edition brush that took a lot of flack for its high price point for such a teeny tiny little brush. It was $40 or $50 dollars and the entire size from tip to tip is about the size of the HANDLE of my Edward Bess brush. And it is totally synthetic. It is also the BEST concealer brush on the planet. It is so tiny it gets in to every nook and crevice of your face and has so many layers in the brush it just blends perfectly.

These face brushes are nothing to right home about. The Nars Yachiyo Brush is not fantastic. It is a brush I would say is totally over rated and I think its fairly rough and just not so great. The Bobbi Brown travel face brush is ok, but I am totally sure that there are better out there!

This is the Nars lip brush from the Bento Box. It is the first lip brush I have ever used that I enjoy. And by enjoy, I mean LOVE! I think the Bento box is worth the $125 price tag for the brush alone (yes, that is a TON of money and I dont have that much lying around to blow on a brush. but it is THAT good!!). And this Hakuhodo brush is sculpting/highlighting brush that I always have off to the side as I have not found a great way to use this yet.

So here are my Hakuhodo brushes all together. I should explain how their system works. There are different "series" or collections. The difference between the series is all based on the handles and ferrells. The brush hairs themselves are exactly the same. So a brush named the B005 will be the EXACT same brush as the B104, J104 or S104 are the same brush head with different handles and different prices. I have chosen to stick with the bottom of the line handles as, well..... they are just handles. I have been immensely  happy with my brushes and can not recommend them enough!

From left to right, B110BkSM, B206BkSL, B116BkSL, B005BkSM, G533, B004BkSM, B264BkSM
B232BkSL, B532BkSL, B214BkSL, B524BkSL, B162BkSL and B242BkSL

And this is the Hakuhodo fan brush.

Now when my brushes were purchased (March of 2011) they were significantly cheaper than they are now. Here is the list of what I got and what the current prices are


Basic 5 pieces brush set - $108.00 (now $136)
B206BkSL Powder Brush round and flat - $41 (now $63)
B214BkSL Highlight Brush round - $18.00 (now $26)
B232BkSL Eye Shadow Brush angled - $22.00 (now $29)
B242BkSL Eye Shadow Brush round and flat - $18.00 (now $23)
B532BkSL Eye Shadow Brush round and flat - $27.00 (now $38)
B116BkSL Highlight Brush round and flat - $48.00 (now $57)
B162BkSL Eye Brow Brush and angled - $17.00 (now $20)
B524BkSL Eye Brow Brush L angled - $30.00 (now $42)
Fan Brush - $30.00 (now $44)


and the 5 piece brush set contains the following brushes:


B110BkSM ($46)
B005BkSM (not sold on its own, but the same brush head is on the J005 $18)
G533 (not sold on its own but the same brush head is on the J533 $18)
B004BkSM (not sold on its own but the same brush head is on the J004 $18)
B264BkSM ($22)

Now this is my travel brush set. I take this, and my Edward Bess face brush and Trish McEvoy The Point and I am good to go. But now here comes the issue I have recommending this set. I got this set as a gift in 2011 and I later bought a set for a girlfriend as a gift. It was very pricey at $216 but for 7 brushes that are SO AMAZING (I mean seriously they could be regular everyday set and you would not want for any more at any time!) that I felt they were well worth the price and the splurge. BUT........... As you can guess by the price increase of the regular brushes these too have gone up by a lot. The Kokutan (Ebony) Portable Mini Set is now $327. And while I LOVE the set and I feel like you cant find a better travel set if you tried, I know I would not be able to spend $327 on a set of travel brushes. But they are beyond amazing.

And this is the little brush that just came with my brand new Guerlain bronzer. I have not yet tried the bronzer with this brush (only the Edward Bess one) so I can not speak about it yet.