A Beauty Addicts Nightmare!

I would like to introduce you to the perfect palette. And by perfect, I mean PERFECT. The Laura Mercier Artists palette was limited edition over the holidays and I debated and actually passed on it. Then I happened to see Cora (Vintage Or Tacky) rave about it and go on and on about how she liked it better than the Lorac Pro Palette. A palette that to find in Canada is about as easy as spotting Waldo in one of his famous Where's Waldo scenes when you are four years old! So I picked it up. And let me tell you, it was love at first swatch. I am a neutral only eyshadow girl. Everyone knows this. And yet, I almost immediately started wearing African Violet, Plum Rose, Kir Royal and Violet Ink! Yes, the PURPLES! The colour that every makeup artist I have ever had work on me has told me I should wear. And the colour that I hated because it always made me feel like I had a black eye!  

So what happened? I was at a hotel in Glendale California in January and came home without the palette. Which was insane as I ALWAYS check the hotel room or rooms to make sure I don't forget anything! How could I do that?! How could I lost my FAVOURITE palette?! And why did the Embassy Suites swear they didn't find it when I called to inquire how to get back the palette I lost?! The palette is over $200 on ebay! FOR A $54 PALETTE! I refused on principle to pay that much money to essentially a scalper. To buy something and regret it and put it up for auction is one thing. To buy 20 of a limited edition item for no reason other than to sell it for four times as much? NOPE! Not going to do it. I would just have to learn to live without it. And forget about. 

And I really tried. And one week ago I broke down, and bought an empty palette from Laura Mercier ($12) and 6 shadows ($29 each) to try to recreate the beloved palette. Yes, that is $186 before tax which is essentially what it would have cost me to replace the palette. But it was the principle of the matter.

The last shade was not in stock, and is en route to me. So for now, there is a hole in the palette.

And then, FOUR DAYS later, yes, four days later, guess what I find:

I am not kidding. I spent two months trying to not replace it, finally replace it, and then the other day I went to pack my carry on bag, and found a hidden zipper. Apparently, its not THAT hidden as I had obviously found it in California when I stuck this palette in there for safe keeping. So yes, I got my palette back, and now have backups of the two most used ones in the palette, Kir Royal and African Violet.

Finding my palette should have been wonderful! I should have started doing a happy dance immediately. Instead, I want to scream!

BUT.............. I have my palette back. And as this post started, it IS the perfect palette!

Stila Amped Up Vinyl Shine Stay All Day Lip Glosses - Swatched!

Well, these swatches are only........ I don't know, 5 weeks late? But I wanted to share them with you. I have to say, I would NEVER EVER EVER wear these. But I hate most glosses because I cant deal with sticky things on my lips. That being said, if sticky and thick lip products don't turn you off, these might be perfect!

Now let me say, these are STICKY! They are thick, they are sticky, and they are super pigmented. If you dont mind a thick sticky gloss, these are more a liquid lipstick than anything else. They have the pigment, opacity, staining, and staying power of a lipstick. They also have the gooey stickiness of a gloss.

IM BACK!

While I know the above is the image you all have in your head of me, I would like to assure you all, I do not wear striped leggings! Strictly solid black ones! In all seriousness, I am not dead though you would not have known that based on the last month.

It started off with my accounts getting hacked. I lost my facebook, lost the google account I was blogging off of and pretty much everything else! I cant access ANY accounts that were linked to my facebook, so elfster among others is GONE. That, added with exams, a heavy schedule and yeah.............

But anyways, I apologize to all of you who have been checking regularly and all the emails and concern I've received in the last month. But I am back, and ready to taunt you, spend your money and waste my money so you dont have too!

Cupid Mystery Boxes - 3 Options!

Julep Mystery boxes are up! They are 24.99 each and there are three options. Check them out!

PURCHASE THIS VERSION OF THE BOX HERE!!

            PURCHASE THIS VERSION OF THE BOX HERE!!

PURCHASE THIS VERSION OF THE BOX HERE!

Are you getting any of these boxes? If so, leave a comment below with which one you want!

My Experiences With JustFab

I have been hearing about JustFab.com for longer than I can remember. And they DO ship to Canada, so I finally decided to go for it. I don't have the products, and wont be getting them. I will explain below.

January 23rd 2014 - I place an order online for a pair of shoes and a bag. This starts my subscription service that I have to remember to log in to my account on the first of every month to choose my style or skip the month. If I forget, I will be billed 39.99. That seems fine to me though. I've been a Julep member since the first day you were ABLE to subscribe and have not forgotten a month yet. I am not worried.

Jan 26th 2014 - My order is still processing. I call them, not really because I am worried, but just to find out when my order will ship. I am told within 2 days and the guy on the line is very nice. He apologizes for the delay, says he is going to email the warehouse and that he will send me an email within 24 hours with the status update on my order. Sounds great to me.

January 29th 2014 - No email, order still processing. I understand things happen, orders get delayed. I live in Canada. I am an EXPERT at long waits to get orders I placed. BUT......... I was promised an email within 24 hours and 3 days later it never came. THAT is not ok with me. If you say you are going to do something, you do it. I call them up to cancel the order and the subscription. If you can't follow through on a commitment you shouldn't make it, and the bottom line is, its been almost a week since I ordered. Makes me nervous about the subscription aspect. I am told they can not cancel the order because it is packed and about to go out. I am told I have nothing to complain about as when I signed up it said 6-10 days for my order to get to me, and it hasn't been 10 days yet. I am also warned that if I have an issue and want to return the items, that cancelling my membership will make it very hard for them to help me. I guess when they couldn't bribe me to remain a subscriber, they tried scaring me into it. This does not sit well with me. I say I really don't care that its packed, I want it cancelled. After 15 minutes of back and forth and the offer of extra loyalty points, I FINALLY get them to cancel my superscription, but not my order. By the way this is at 6am on the 29th.

January 30th 2014 - its now been a day and a half since my order was supposedly packed and ready to go. And yet its still not shipped. I call back. Now I am actually angry. I ask to speak to a manager. I explain everything to the manager and again, she tries to convince me to take points and not cancel. Another 10 minutes of bribery attempts and credit offers to remain. I am adamant this time. I want it cancelled. This is ridiculous. She tells me she will attempt to cancel it but can not promise that the warehouse will see the cancellation in time and I might still be charged. That all she can do is request a cancel from the warehouse team. I said that was fine and that IF I was charged I would refuse the package when it was delivered and that I would be disputing the charge with my credit card company. Ten minutes later I look online, my order is cancelled and the authorization on my credit card released.

I am not suggesting this is the normal experience. I truly have no idea. But it was my experience and enough to ensure I don't order from them or recommend them to others. I have horror stories about the quality from some, and rave reviews from others about how great they are. I truly have no idea.

Do you have experience ordering from them? If you do, I would LOVE to hear your responses and experiences! Please comment below!

Cheek Pop Blushes For Clinique Spring 2014 - Swatched

I was super excited to pick these up when I saw the promo shots! I mean, come on! We all know I have been on a TOTAL blush kick lately. I went in to the swatch them, expecting to pick AT LEAST 2 of them. I walked out with none. HOLY SHIMMER BATMAN! Seriously. These are shimmery! I am NOT a girl who likes a face full of glitter and that is just what you got with these.

From left to right, 03, 02, 01 and 04

Sorry for the crummy lighting. This was taken at the counter. I think you can see the shimmer more on the bottom photo. I cant speak for the wear obviously, but the pigment, texture and application are damn near perfect. But the shimmer is unforgivable in my books. If you like shimmer in your blush, these are fantastic! Its really the ONLY pitfall. Too bad I can't overlook it!

Julep Josephine, Kristy, Padma, Lacey and Marjorie

Still trying to cleanse my old computer of all the swatches on it! Josephine is one of my favourite shades. The perfect greyed out teal! Just my shade! Though all of these are shown with two coats and all are the standard, thick but not goopy formula I find is the norm with Julep. If its not a frost or a glitter, I tend to be fairly happy with the formula and the consistency (both in terms of describing the liquid in the bottle, and the standard of the polish).

Bessame Cosmetics - Review And Swatches

So this beautiful girl (Melinda) was walking around IMATS handing out cards for Besasme Cosmetics. I have to admit, I was not thrilled to see her. My girlfriend was going on and on about the brand, and I wasn't interested. I wanted to be, but nothing about the aesthetic spoke to me. I like modern and clean. Geometric and harsh lines. Bessame? Very vintage, old fashion looking, gold packaging. I hate gold. I just wasn't EXCITED about the brand, and because my girlfriend was SOOOOO excited about the brand, it made me feel like I was somehow missing something. So I just kind of hoped to "miss" the booth.

Thank goodness I didn't! You couldnt miss this 12 year old girl walking through IMATS. And so that brought us to the booth. By the way, I dont know if you can tell from the picture, but she seriously has the most AMAZING eyelashes I have ever seen. I almost thought they were false lashes at first (and that was with her NOT wearing ANYTHING on them). So jealousy aside.... back to the point.

The booth.

These lipsticks as you can see above have a gold bullet with the brand scrolled down the side. The cap is gold with a red pattern printed on them. They also each come in a velvet pouch as if it were a precious piece of jewelry. There is NOTHING wrong with the packaging. They pay attention to EVERY little detail. So much so you can't help but be impressed. I just personally don't like it. Just not my taste. But the execution is gorgeous.

The gift set below (a lipstick, liner and brush) retails for the same price as the above lipsticks. And as you can see, the packaging is different. I just picture a Japanese Geisha when I look at this packaging. I may be nuts, but its what comes to mind.

Another limited edition set, this time with a scarf. To bad the shade is a bright red. NOT a Shayna shade.

So as you can see, the detailing and packaging are gorgeous. And I really really dislike them. I wish I didn't. But you like what you like. Then I started testing. And it was love at first swipe. It doesn't matter that its not my aesthetic. I am so thankful Melinda was working the floor (and then the booth) and that L wanted to check them out and was so in love. I should know to just shut up and trust L. I really do. Which is why I went to the booth. But yes, these lipsticks are just so luxe feeling.

And this is what I bought. Only three, but the line is very heavy on the red shades, and I just am not such a red fan. But I got three gorgeous lipsticks. And at a price of $22 each, I must say they are worth the cost.

First up is the limited edition set in Champagne. The brush is teeny and I haven't tried it yet but it FEELS lovely. The lipstick comes in a velvet pouch just like the others do, though this one is black and lacks the elasticized top.

And this is the packaging. I must say, while I dont like it, I like it better than the gold and red packaging.

And the shades.

Now I must confess. I can NOT apply lip liner. I have a shaky hand, cant get one smooth looking line, and it always looks horrendous. So when I tried this out, I EXPECTED a big fat mess. And oh my goodness. It looked GOOD on my lips. It applied easier and smoother than any other liner I have ever tried. So much so that I actually WORE it out in public. I really only own the GOSH ones and two NYX ones at this point and while they are amazing formula wise, I just fail at the application. Not so with this one. What makes it different? I have NO FRICKEN CLUE! Maybe its just the perfect point? The GOSH ones dont drag, but they just dont apply like this. I wish I KNEW why this applied so much easier for me so I could explain it, but I can't. But if you are like me and are lip liner application challenged, this is the liner for you.

And here it is filled in with the lipstick. On the lips its a fantastic match. Not as much on the hand. Not sure why. But it looks great together on the lip.

And just the swatch below. As you can see, its an orange brown shade and its not my usual colour but its oh so flattering on. And a point worth mentioning, they also make a single lipstick called Champagne. Totally different colour. I don't know why they would do that, but its confusing. So be careful when choosing shades!

Dusty Rose was the one that jumped out at me the most and the one I HAD to have. Not my USUAL shade as its a bit darker and redder than I lean towards, but it may be my new favourite lipstick. A mid toned rose shade that looks almost like a berry. Its gorgeous.

 
And here is the swatch. Super pigmented, and creamy and smooth. I also must say, while I know it wont last long, the SHAPE of the lipstick itself is fantastic for application. I wish I could magically keep it this exact same shape through use!

Debutante Pink is frostier than I recall when purchasing. Its a purple leaning frosty pink..... almost a lavender? But still pink. I don't dislike this shade, but its my least favourite of the three.

Its also a little bit of a more......... not moisturizing, because they all are. But...... wetter consistency? Or thinner? Its hard to descirbe. It just feels a bit more..... this is going to sound crazy but it feels like it melts more into the lips?

And here are both pinks together.

One BIG thing to note is the scent. Its STRONG. And by strong, I mean hit you over the head with a two by four strong. Its a super sweet sugary vanilla. I don't dislike the scent, but it can get to be a bit much. And you definitely can't NOT notice it.

Now the bottom line here is if this type of packaging and look appeals to you, stop drop and run to the site to order a lipstick. The pigment and quality and details are amazing. And if you are like me and HATE the packaging, I still say run and pick up a colour to try. They are THAT great. Just know they have a super strong smell!

Shop Bessame Cosmetics HERE!!!!!