Another Adorned With Grace Haul

After playing around with AWG blushes, last month I decided to purchase a 6-pack and grab a couple of GWPs (gift-with-purchase). They came in yesterday!

I love Franchesca's blushes! I was thinking of getting all of her shimmer blushes but thought I couldn't let her matte blushes get away too. And I also had to show SOME restraint, so I purchased a 6-pack instead of the also limited 8- and 10-pack of blushes.

I spent at least $29 so my free GWP was a FS of Illuminated blush. I forgot to swatch it, but it's a neutral, pale golden blush, that can be used to highlight cheekbones or as an overall glow.






Swatches are dry, with no primer, taken in natural sunlight.

Sensational and Ardent are part of the Shimmer Blush collection while the others are not, but the shimmer is still subtle for any-time use.

Sensational would be my neutral shimmer blush, Serene if I wanted a more matte look. Ardent is a great shimmer if I want a bit more colour. I'd use Sultry for evening or if I wanted a bronze just-in-the-sun look. Curious and Sassy are my mauve and pink blushes, Curious being a bit more muted to Sassy's pink. I love Curious, but after trying Sassy out today, it's winning my heart too.

I also bought the Blog Special brush for $5.99. It's a long-handled duo fiber brush similar to the Ingenue Petite Duo Fiber Franchesca carries (but I bought mine at Silk Naturals - it's the same brush). She's testing it out to see if she'll start selling this item in the future. Here's my quick visual comparison:




The new brush is obviously longer, and has a tapered matte black handle and black ferrule. It's almost as long as my MAC 129 blush brush, just 1/2 head shy of its full-length. Sorry for the annoying pink bristles...like I said, I tried out Sassy this morning. I don't know if it's because I just washed my Ingenue brush (I used my dollar store brush guard dupe to dry -- thanks, Janice!), but it appears to have a smaller head. This new brush also shed like crazy when I washed it, so hopefully it won't anymore.

Overall, I like the brush. It feels good in my hand, though I think I'll have to get used to it. The shortness of the Ingenue brush is nice when applying my mineral blushes, but it looks cheaply made (well, it WAS cheaper!). The new brush looks more attractive, though for the length of the handle, it's almost like you should be working with a larger, denser brush. It's easier to find amongst my brushes because it's taller. I'm glad I bought the brush, because it works similar to the Ingenue (which I love!) but I don't know if I would shell out extra money for it (it will probably retail between $7-8) unless I specifically want a longer handled brush. The little-bit of extra denseness you get with the new brush may be worth more to some.

I also bought myself two empty 30g sifter jars, large enough to swirl my brush in. I have my Earthen Glow mineral foundations in Helena and Soon which I have to mix each time, and this will definitely save me some time.

Along with 4 more blush samples, Radiant, Vibrant, Passionate and Felicity (I told you, I love her blushes!), I got 3 free eyeshadow samples in Thoughtful, Optimistic, and Resolute. Swatches to follow in another post.

With every purchase, buyers were given a special Earth Day bamboo brush that has interchangeable heads.

Image courtesy of definingtruebeauty.blogspot.com

And I received a lovely surprise too...a free tube of Luscious Lip Balm, AWG's vegan, organic lip balm. I love lip balms more than blushes, any day!

Stay beautiful!

Too Many Foundations!

Since last week, I received a few more hauls in the mail. One from Buff'd, then Adorned With Grace, another from LaurEss, and yesterday from Blusche.

I only have one face! And so many foundations to try!

First off, here was my order for a full-size in Saffron foundation and Mais setting powder from Buff'd, in addition to some blushes and other powders I wanted to sample. More on my Buff'd experience later....


Then arrived my Adorned With Grace samples. How pretty they were, all wrapped up! Appropriate, it being Valentines Day soon...



I ordered her 15 baggies for $12, oh which 14 of them were foundation! I didn't want to reorder any more samples, so I thought I would just cover my bases. A lot of them I placed aside, seeing how fair the colour was. I settled on trying Grace 4.2, a combo of peach/yellow/olive. I found it the best match though I think there's a touch too much peach for my colouring. I'll have to try this out a few more days. Otherwise, it's still a pretty good match:



I ordered a full-size Divine Oil-Control Primer Powder. The first ingredient is kaolin, with mica being second, which is super great for my oilies. I actually kept forgetting to apply this primer, because it's in a 4g jar (with powder puff to keep everything under the sifter!) and not in a baggie like everything else I'm testing. I finally used it once a few days ago, and it's fabulous! I apply it with the puff to my T-zone and it really works!

I also splurged and bought the 12 eyeshadows for $7 baggie special - got some neutral shades and some for highlighting and base colours. I've tried a few colours, and they go on very nicely. I wish I had some pots of the ones I've already used: they're that nice I'd buy full-size ones now even though I've still got samples. In my FOTD above, I used AWG shadows, though I can't recall which I chose to test.

I also received as a bonus from AWG a sample baggie set of all 8 of the new shimmering blushes. They're all very nice...I can't wait to go through all of them!

Then my LaurEss samples arrived, shrink wrapped to cardboard, well-packed:

Of the four shades I bought (Pure Gold, Pure Yellow, Warm Gold, Fresh Gold) the one I tried and liked was Pure Gold. I think Pure Yellow would suit me too, but Pure Gold has a touch of olive in it, and it matched very well. A friend of mine dropped by Sunday morning, and I had already put my LaurEss Pure Gold on, but nothing else (no eyeliner, shadow, blush), and she had to stop mid-sentence and ask me if I had any makeup on, because she couldn't tell and my skin looked so perfect. Now, ain't THAT a compliment?! So I couldn't help but ramble on about how fabulous MMU is to her. I whipped out my samples and exclaimed it's virtues!

So with that, LaurEss gets a BIG checkmark as a HG foundation. I ordered the Elemental formula but realized a few hours later that I should've ordered the Minimalist formula for oily skin. I emailed customer service and got a reply that they would be happy to switch the formulas for me. Yippee! But when I received my package, I did not receive the Minimalist, only the Elemental. I emailed CS back to ask them if the shades are equal across the formulas (in case I loved one shade, I could just order the correct formula). They said yes, it's equal, but that they would send me the Minimalist shades anyways, at no cost! Even Lauren, herself, emailed me and told me she was sorry for overlooking the order, and they would send it out the next day (this was Friday when I emailed her) USPS Priority. How's THAT for Customer Service?!?!? I was totally floored about how they handled my order, that I just have to order a full-size in the Pure Gold.

I found the LaurEss foundation very fine-milled and creamy. The Elemental foundation didn't last as long on me as I think the Minimalist would, but its got buildable coverage, and very, very natural. I can't wait to try the Minimalist.

My new love, until then, has got to be Blusche Minerals! I finally have it on today, with Mocha Java being the best shade (Creme Brulee and Brazillian are too light for me -- all in the Warm category). It's finely-milled like LaurEss and goes on dreamily. I thought it went on too light, but I think it warmed up on my skin, as my forehead doesn't look as ashy as I thought when applying.


The problem with my skin is that I have uneven tones. It's like some parts of my face, namely my cheeks, almost down to the jawline, is a fairer, more pink/cool colour. That's why when I compare foundation between my face/chin and neck, there's still a stark difference, even though my face colour has evened out nicely. My chin tends to look the ashiest when I apply foundation...which is why it's so crucial to find the right shade AND formula!

I hesitate to add an unmade up, just-washed face, pic...see what I mean?



Anyway, here's my Blusche order...I got the Petal and Coral blushes for free!:


$1.75 CDN (yay!) for a three baggie set, so I ordered three 3-baggie sets, one for foundation, one for primer and finisher, and one in concealer and correctors. I got the Medium Primer, the Veil in Matte (other option is Glow) in Phoebe (neutral tone) and Shelley (slight yellow tone). I chose the Yellow corrector for undereyes and the Green corrector for any red spots on my face and a concealer in Medium. $5.25 CDN for 9 baggies. :) Had to pay $3.50 shipping (it's Canada Post, which sucks), but it should've been free, like Buff'd offers, since everything fit in a standard 6x9 envelope with a 56 cents stamp on it (or whatever the cost is for a domestic shipping...it's not $3.50!). Oh well, the samples were cheap to compensate.

On to my experience with Buff'd...

I tried the Saffron on last week, and I felt like I just left the tanning salon. The coverage is super thick, and goes on rather cakey if use a Flat Top like I was using. I tried to keep a light hand, but perhaps I need a kabuki or something. The samples I had were in Concealing, so I might need to try out the Original formula. If I didn't apply any primer, the foundation cakes pretty fast, and I get balls of foundation collecting on my nose. Not pretty.

I emailed Jenn at Buff'd to ask her what I could do with my full-size Saffron to lighten it up a bit (I know! I jumped the gun when I bought the Saffron!). She emailed back quickly, suggesting that I mix with Moccasin to get the right shade, as adding Porcelain, a pure white, may not work as well. Although I thought that Moccasin was too yellow, after not having much success with a 50:50 mix of Saffron:Moccasin, I decided to try Moccasin straight. This is what I got (I only have mascara and blush on...so it's not my final face):


It's a bit yellow on me, looking a little brighter in person, but it's a much better match than anything with Saffron in it. It just doesn't have any olive in it to tone it down. It's still cakey on me, as I only had my Flat Top to apply it. When I finish my Moccasin sample, I may order myself another sample in another formula, to see if I can get away from this cakeyness. Meanwhile, I have a full, unopened jar of Saffron which I can't open until I really tan. So unless someone wants to buy it off me, this baby will have to keep until August or something!

I'm wiped out! If only my skin could take habitual washing, I'd wash my face several times a day to test all the foundations at once! As it is, I can only test one a day....my makeup routine is taking so much longer now, now that I have such a selection of foundations to play around with!

My Hauls are Coming In!

Ok, so it's not as large as some you all out there, but it's always nice to receive anything in the mail.

So last week, I got my two hauls from Buff'd, with all the samples of foundations and powders I wanted to try. Here are the pics I promised to post.
Five foundation samples in Almond, Moccasin, Buff, Saffron, and Warm. The two bottom samples were freebies from Jenn, the owner, Cozy, an eyeshadow and a setting powder in Neutral.


Here, you can compare the colour diffs between four of them. Saffron suits me best, I think, and I ordered a full size yesterday.

Here was my second haul from Buff'd. Foundies in Caramel and Camel, an eyebrow powder in Midnight, another two free samples in Cozy (again!) and Tricky, a NARS dupe of their blush in Orgasm. Botton row: Setting Powder in Mais, Finishing Powder in Flax, a white blush in Whisper, and Illuminating Dusts in Canvas and Candlelight.

Last night, I received my ebay purchases...my UDPP and my Ben Nye's DC-01 Contour Rouge No.1. Yay! I love the Ben Nye...thanks Christiana!

The second vial is for my sis.

I think the colour turns out a little lighter here, but it's a nice brown for contouring.

And today I received my Silk Naturals package. 11 days posted from the States...that's pretty good, given it was shipped on a Friday and it's Tuesday today. It was wrapped all pretty in pink tissue:



I opened up the brushes first...ooh la la...I love the flat top. It's so dense! The fiber optic brush will be PERFECT for blush. Small enough to get on the apples of the cheeks!

Pretty dense flat top!!!

The lippies are very nice. Birthday Suit and Bliss, a Bobbie Brown clone of Brownie. Very creamy, not drying. Birthday Suit is very pigmented and much darker than I thought it would be, for a nude gloss, but it's very nice. Bliss looks like an extension of my inner lips, if that makes sense, and it a nice everyday kind of stick with still plenty of colour, with a slight pink.



I bought Climax which is a also NARS dupe of Orgasm. I should compare Buff'd's Tricky and SN's Climax together...too bad I don't have the NARS to compare with :(

The Brown Sugar eyeshadow I selected as my freebie is gorgeous! It's a rich brown with shimmering flecks of highlight. It's a very creamy feeling, not chalky. I don't know if I could use this in the daytime...it looks too sexy! :)

Same goes with the Mogul eyeshadow I got as a bonus. It's a silver white, great for the inner eyelid.



I wonder what will come in tomorrow!

Slightly sM.A.Cked!

It was like the world was in slow motion as pushed the stroller closer and closer. Like it was a dream, fate, karma, if you will. Yes, I was so close, as my eyes widened in amazement, a sight I haven't seen in years, it seemed...the M.A.C. counter!

My toddler in tow, I managed to convince him that we go in the store "just for a little while".

- Mom, that's girl stuff!
- But Mom is a girl...
- No, you don't need makeup...

I sighed and blushed as the SA looked up and greeted us with what probably would have sounded like an "aww!" if I were any closer to her. Either that or she was telling herself, oh shit, don't come any closer.

I browsed around staring at all the new items I have only seen online, while constantly removing pans of concealer and foundation out of my son's hands. What should I buy today? Concealer? Lipstick? Hmmm....

I didn't know how to select a concealer so I asked the SA about the various kinds. She tells me that on February 5, M.A.C. is revealing a new line called Studio Sculpt that provides full-coverage yet won't crease or fade. The current products, she said, either provide medium-coverage and don't crease or full-coverage and can crease. The Studio Sculpt coming out would be the best of both worlds.

I looked up more information and found out this on Makeup and Beauty Blog :

Studio Sculpt Concealer: Inspired by the needs of M·A·C makeup artists, who demanded a full-coverage concealer that never becomes dry and cakey, the gel-based cream formula slips onto skin, effortlessly hiding imperfections. Its silicone coated pigments help retain color purity for superb coverage that blends easily yet covers completely with just a small amount of product.

It'll probably cost around $20 CDN since it will be $16.50 USD. So I booked an appointment next Thursday to try it out. And maybe, while she's at it, she can colour type me too...and try some other products that I'll be tempted to buy!

So I bummed around the place a bit more. I fondled the Paint Pots (how lovely! Groundwork would look great as an eye base with my skin colour), and tickled a few of the lipsticks.

Before I left, I picked up a pot of Lip Conditioner SPF 15. I heard great things about it, and although it was $15, at 15g of product, that's about on par with the Kiehl's lip balm I used to use, and that was just "ok". So far, I love the slight vanilla taste and it applies smoothly. A little bit goes a long way. Right away, I can tell it'll work better for me than my current pomegranate Burt's Bee balm.

I can't wait until next Thursday!

Re.Edit. Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog posted a review on the Studio Sculpt Foundation and Concealer....check it out!

My Beauty Realization...and Purchases!

Being a mom gives me a certain badge of honour....one which I don't wear proudly. The badge of "ugliness" comes to mind. Yes, as a mother, I am now to look a certain way, my hair having not seen a hairbrush in weeks, nevermind my straightener, my bare-all complexion of past acne scars of yesteryear and impending wrinkles foretelling my doom into motherhood greet me in the mirror; yes, I am a mother now.

Mind you, I have been a "mother" for almost 4 years now, though just having a newborn around makes it seems like a "rebirth", so to speak, into motherhood again. I grew out of this phase I'm in at one point in my life, but here I am again, faced with the challenge of beautifying myself to prove to all, and especially myself, that I am one of those wondrous females who can have her looks AND kids too.

So where do I start? This past week has been an awakening for me, as I stumbled upon a beauty blog by Miss Christiana - Memoirs of a Shopping Addict. As I read through her blog, her makeup reviews, application tips, I realized I was old. Christiana just turned 22 years old, about a dozen years younger than myself, and she is young and beautiful and has a passion about beauty, showing how much confidence and poise a 22 year old should rightfully have. What does this 30-something have to show? I found her blog not only interesting but inspiring, so I decided to search online for products that would beautify me on the outside, in the hopes of convincing my inside to glow too.

So, I'm no virgin when it comes to online shopping. I don't have any hangups. Yes, I've been somehow caught in online identity theft, but that won't stop me from shopping online, since I keep track of everything on one online-only credit card (I used to before, and it still happened, but I remain diligent).

I thought I could pick up something new at Everyday Minerals, where I've purchased a couple of sample kits to test their foundation colours, in addition to some blushes and concealers, but then I thought I'd start shopping elsewhere for a bit, to see what's out there.

Before coming to this whole epiphany on Christiana's blog, I was going to make a purchase on Franchesca's website, Adorned With Grace Minerals. Franchesca had developed the foundation mix of Buttered Tan at Everyday Minerals, a colour that can suit most filipino girls, being Filipino herself. I found out that she has developed her own line of mineral makeup, focusing on colours for the yellow/olive undertones in Asian skin. Buttered Tan never suited me, and I hadn't quite determined my exact shade at Everyday Minerals. I decided to buy AWG's "15 for $12" sample kit, where I could sample 15 colours for one price. I chose 14 colours from her foundation palette to test out (I reserved one sample for a blush, I believe).


Also I ordered her Divine Oil-Control Primer, which would help me keep the slick away. I'll try anything that will do that! And since she had a 3-day special on 12 eyecolour baggies for $7, I couldn't resist and pick that one up to. I plan on doing some swatches when the haul comes in. Oh, and the bonus couldn't be any cooler: 8 samples/baggies of the new shimmering blushes she will release next month. They are super nice! The following swatch is found on Franchesca's blog, Defining True Beauty:

Meanwhile, on Christiana's blog, I stumbled upon a reference to Buff'd Cosmetics, where she finds her HG (holy grail) foundation. Turns out the company is from Prince George right here in BC! How I could I not order something from a MMU (mineral makeup) company so close to home?!? Well, no duty or cost conversion, that is. So I purchased 5 foundation samples in Moccasin, Almond, Buff, Warm and Saffron to try. They came in and right away I knew Moccasin and Almond were too light, Buff being ok, but Warm and Saffron looking more my tone.


I'll post swatches when I have a chance. I put Warm on first and it was too pink for me. I have a lot of yellow undertones and although there is a balance of yellow and pink in Warm, I guess I don't have much pink in me all. I tried Saffron, which looks really yellow. After a few days of wearing the sample, I think Saffron could use a LITTLE bit yellow, as I am still a bit chaulky looking after applying. It's not perfect, but so far is the best match I've found in MMU.

I went and put in another Buff'd order to sample Caramel and Camel, which might be too dark for me, but perhaps they have a better level of yellow. Since I was ordering, and the shipping was free, I added samples of Midnight (an eyebrow colour), Canvas (an illuminating dust), Whisper (a pure white blush for highlighting), and Mais (a translucent yellow setting powder). I think that's what I ordered...my samples should arrive tomorrow. I'll try and post swatches of these too.


I couldn't help but browse Christiana's site for more helpful info, and she refers quite a bit to Silk Naturals. Another MMU company, but this has fantastic shipping prices to Canada! I put in a $40 order and shipping was only $3.50! Ok, so what did I order?


Fiber Optic Blush Brush
Premium Synthetic Flat Top Brush
Climax blush (NARS Orgasm clone)
Birthday Suit lip gloss (a nude tone)
Bliss lipstick (Bobbie Brown Brownie clone)


With my order, I'll also get a free eyeshadow of my choice, which I picked Brown Sugar, and Melange, a silvery plum eyeshadow, their choice of bonus.


First time purchasers get 5% off their order. I practically got shipping free as a result! What's not to love?


I didn't stop there though. I hit my all-time favourite place to shop: ebay! There I bought a very coveted Ben Nye Powder Cheek Rouge in Contour No.1, recommended by Christiana as her favourite contour powder (and, boy, do I need contouring, LOL). Also I decided to spring for a tube of Urban Decay Primer Potion, since I've been wanting to try it forever. I bought a second tube for my sister too, since she prefers using a primer but has never tried UDPP before.

So, there, my January haul! With any luck, there will be a February haul, probably with full-size items, if not a few more samples to try out. The other sites I wanted to shop at were Coastal Scents for their 28-pan Neutral palette, and JW Cosmetics, just because.


Now all I do is wait. Sigh. A little shopping therapy is already making me feel a whole lot better!