Wednesday 17 December 2014

Brandbacker: Make Up by One Direction - Take Me Home Collection

Hello my lovely readers!

Thank you to Brandbacker for this opportunity to review One Direction's new makeup kit.
The one I received was called Take Me Home.




There are 3 main collections in this first set, each one coming in a tin with 1D featured on the front sleeve. Inside the tin there are details on what's inside and how to create looks.

Click below to check out the one we got!



We got the Take Me Home collection (pictured on the left).



Each collection is named after an album & their products named after a song title (cute right?)

I know fangirls would totally dig these! I think these are perfect for a 1D fan for the upcoming holidays.

Lucky me, I got a more natural selection of products!




Inside the kit, I received:

- Liquilights UV Glow Gloss in Kiss You. It's a sheer but buildable orange glitter gloss which glows neon yellow under UV (cool!)
- Sheer Lipstick in Last First Kiss. A sheer soft pink lipstick
- Mascara in Little Black Dress. An average black mascara
- Nail polish in Live While We're Young. A cute holographic shine gold glitter!
- Stencils in various shapes
- Eye and body crayon in I Wish. A thick medium brown crayon.
- Eyeshadow Palette w/
  • Back For You (Cream Beige pressed shadow)*
  • Change My Mind (Orange Peach shimmer pressed shadow)*
  • C'Mon C'Mon (Mushroom taupe pressed shadow)*
  • Little Things (Chocolate brown pressed shadow)*
  • Take Me Home (Gold w/ gold glitter creme)*
*my descriptions, the package slightly differs, will address below

Overall:  Cute collection especially for the One Direction fans. The sleeve with the members' picture definitely a plus for fans. The icing for this collection is the names! This is coming from a fangirl who used to buy chupachup lollys just because Spice Girls were on it! I was also surprised by the quality of the makeup. It's not high quality but it's decent especially when the target group is for young girls. It's not like the crappy drugstore holiday packages *cough* when you open it, the mascara is dry and all the "cream" eyeshadows are rock hard. That said, the collection is good for a young 1D fan who is just starting to use make up.
It's not great for people who already have their routine pretty much set and have a handful of Holy Grail products because nothing from this set particularly stands out other than the eyeshadow palette colour selection. I also like the packaging,  it has a brick wall theme, and the packaging of each product also follows the theme. Simple and colourful, great for the target group.


Review of each item:

Sheer Lipstick in Last First Kiss:
Packaging is simple, follows the brick wall pattern and shows the colour at the bottom of the tube. There's a smell to it, I can't describe it but it's not floral or fruity. It's not unpleasant but it's also not great (best description ever right?).  It goes on like a tinted balm, quite smooth, not chalky and no build up around the edges. Mine must have gotten warm because the second time I went to swatch again, it came out of place. 



left side: 2 swipes, 1 swipe of sheer lipstick.
right side: 2 swipes + Kiss You UV Gloss on top, 1 swipe of sheer lipstick



Liquilights UV Glow Gloss in Kiss You:
At first, I was turned off by such a vibrant orange glitter gloss. I swatched it on my hand and it was super orange. It's not really my style and I don't like glitter in my gloss. I had bad reactions to glitter glosses from Bonne Bell before! Turns out, one coat, it's quite sheer. Two and it's more orange, but nothing unwearable.  It has a really faint fruity smell and goes on smooth. It is not sticky but it has a slight grit due to the glitter. I personally still prefer no glitter in my glosses!








 Mascara in Little Black Dress:
What to say about the mascara? It's average, had no clumping but it also felt like I didn't put it on. I have short Asian lashes so I like a mascara that really thickens and lengthens. I didn't expect much from this mascara and didn't make any sort of impression on me.








 Nail polish in Live While We're Young:
Ok, onto the reason why we even blog, nail polish! I can see why any girl would love this. Glittery, sparkly goodness. This polish had even coverage without it being too thick. It has a medium to sparse distribution of glitter. Average drying time, but does not dry smooth. It contains reflective gold (and maybe silver?) large hexes and a sprinkle of rose gold, green, blue and iridescent small glitters. My camera picked it up as a scattered rainbow of colours.




Stencils in various shapes:
Yeah, I don't know what to do with these. You're supposed to colour it in with the eye/body pencil but no thank you..maybe I'll pass it onto my friend and see if he wants to use it as a spray paint stencil. They are basic plastic cut outs.






- Eye and body crayon in I Wish.
Average. I find the brown too "bright". When swatched it's like a bright chocolate but on the eye it's like a mahogany. Very unflattering on me. It looks almost like an orange tinted brown on me. I tried to wear it on my waterline but no way! It looked too much like I had a case of my allergies. I cringed. I tried it as a eyeliner but it's way too thick so I tried it as a shadow. It went on smooth, slightly patchy but another layer is great. I just don't like the colour.. alot.





 Eyeshadow Palette w/
  • Back For You (Cream Beige pressed shadow)
  • Change My Mind (Orange Peach shimmer pressed shadow)
  • C'Mon C'Mon (Mushroom taupe pressed shadow)
  • Little Things (Chocolate brown pressed shadow)
  • Take Me Home (Gold w/ gold glitter creme)

First thing first, brush sucks if I can even call it a brush. On the left is a bristle brush and the right is a foam tip applicator. Look at my swatch pic, the one using the brush is non-existent!! It can't pick up any colour lol. The foam one fared a bit better but still not good! Using my finger was much better!


I really like the colours of this palette, I love neutrals! For starter eyeshadows the pressed powder ones are great. They go on a bit sheer but it's a look I like. 


My favourite would be Back For You, the light soft cream colour is delicate and brightens my eyes. On the package it says it's a creme eyeshadow but I beg to differ, it seems like a pressed powder to me? I even dug my nail in each colour to see.. but I don't know. The gold one Take Me Home is a golden creme eyeshadow with a layer of gold glitter on top. Due to this, the application of it is patchy and gritty. You can see it below on its own close up. I don't prefer cremes anyway since I have oily lids, they crease fairly quickly. The other three colours are great and average, nothing I have to point out. 






I think the palette is my favourite item from this collection. Soft light neutrals, I can wear many different combinations! Sadly, I tried to do a 'look' with them and due to it's soft pigmentation and bad camera quality it looks like nothing hahaaha! oh gosh I will need to practice on that.
My close second favourite is the sheer lipstick + UV gloss combo. Each by itself, is ok but not great. Together they make the best 'everyday' colour (unless you shine a UV light at yourself haha!). 

I did Back For You all over as base, with Little Things in the corner. I lined the bottom with Take Me Home and I used my own Stila Liquid Eyeliner for Eyeliner. I used Little Black Dress as my mascara. On my lips I put on Last First Kiss sheer lipstick and layered Kiss You liquilights UV gloss on top.
At first I used Change My Mind for the corner but it turned out too light in pictures so I switched to Little Things




Check out the collections on https://www.facebook.com/MakeupbyOneDirection
Look for Makeup by 1D at Macy'sDillard'sStageBoscov's, and Lord & Taylor!

This collection was sponsored by the BrandBacker program for review. All opinions are my own.

Brandbacker: Makeup by One Direction Trios

post is powered by Brandbacker

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I've been a bit MIA on the blog, my work schedule has been quite hectic :( & I will be away for a bit later too! But today I have two kits to share with you..

If you've seen my previous post then you know One Direction has been putting out their own makeup line. Continuing in this line..they came out with a trio of lipglosses and a trio of nail polishes.

This is the trio of UV Reactive Colour-Changing Lip Glosses. [Liquilights Glow Glosses]
These are housed in a plastic setting inside a cardboard paper box with a plastic sleeve.

Described as; Liquilights Glow Gloss sparkles brilliantly during the day and illuminates under UV black light after dark. Enriched with natural oils and vitamin E to keep your lips soft and hydrated all day and all night. Gloss can be worn alone for a pop of sparkle and colour, or paired with One Direction creme lipstick for a bolder look

It includes:

Kiss You - Bright orange glitter gloss that glows neon yellow under UV light
Taken - Punch of pink glitter gloss that glows neon pink-orange under UV light
Through The Dark - Electric poppy glitter  gloss that glows neon red-orange under UV light



These 3 glosses were part of the kits (from my previous post which showed Kiss You).. They are now packaged together in a small trio.

It's the perfect stocking stuffer for the liploving 1D fangirl.
As said before, these liquilight glow glosses are very vibrant when swatched but can be applied lightly to be sheer and then buildable with more layers. The glitter inside the glosses aren't overly gritty but I still prefer them without. It goes on smooth and is not sticky.


----
This is the trio of Rock Me Nail Varnishes.
These are housed in a plastic setting inside a cardboard paper box with a plastic sleeve.
Inside includes 3 nail varnishes and 3 nail toppings which are jars of glitter.

Described as: neon UV-reactive nail varnish and UV-reactive glitter nail toppings that add even more sizzle to your mani, for nails that light up day and night. Sprinkle the glitter over wet polish for a subtle accent, or go for the glitz and dip your entire wet mani in mega-watt sparkle!

It includes:
nail polishes:
Happily - UV iced neon blue
Moments - UV neon pink
Diana - UV 3D holographic [sparkle w/ bar glitter]

nail glitter:
Kicks - UV snow cone blue glitter
Not Afraid - UV Electrified pink glitter
Star - UV holo rose silver glitter

Happily + Kicks
Happily is a bright neon blue, in the bottle it looked amazing but was very sheer on the nail. Even after 4 coats it was still sheer. I had to use a white base and even then I had to use 3 coats to get opacity. Once opaque, the blue was quite intense. Kicks is a blue periwinkle micro glitter. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that the glitter was so fine it got everywhere.









Moments + Not Afraid
Moments is a sheer electric pink, it wasn't as sheer as happily though. I used 3 thick coats to get opacity. I paired it with Not Afraid, a neon pink micro glitter and did a ruffian mani. Due to the fine texture of the glitter I found that it got everywhere and was difficult to clean up.








Diana + Star
Diana is a glitter polish with sparkles and holo bar glitter. I paired it with Star, a dusty rose holographic micro glitter. The base colour I'm wearing in the pictures below is OPI Can't Find My Czechbook with Diana sponged on to create a gradient.




Only way to capture the holo was a blurry shot


Here's a look I created with Happily and Moments, they were both quite sheer and worked great to colour in space.

Base colour is Essie Sand Tropaz


They are overall pretty sheer (even at 4 coats you could still see through Happily) It might be best to lay them over something. The glitter is nothing special, just glitter although Star has a really nice holographic shift to it.
I do recommend doing this over old newspaper etc, especially for younger fans.

Even being a huge lover of polish, I prefer the gloss set over the nail polish kit.
It's a cute idea and the colours are fun but the opacity of the polishes are very disappointing. I know usually neon colours have tricky formulas but what kid would put on 5 coats of this?? Not even the biggest 1D fan would spend the time for this.....or would they? lol!


Retails for: prices vary between stores; seen them for $16.50 USD
Check out the collections on https://www.facebook.com/MakeupbyOneDirection
Look for Makeup by 1D at Macy'sDillard'sStageBoscov's, and Lord & Taylor!




Sunday 23 November 2014

Essence Waterproof Gel Eye Pencils

Essence Cosmetics amazes me with every new release. I especially LOVE the most recent release of their Aquatix collection, there was a holographic polish!! But I digress, today I have eyeliners to show off and they're pretty good as well :)


Monday 10 November 2014

Essence Lipsticks Review

Press Sample
Hey everyone,

                         

Today I have a few Essence lipsticks to review. Essence is available at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada. They are vastly available in Europe and I am so happy Essence is available in Canada!
Most of their cosmetics range from $1 to $10. They are fairly inexpensive but the quality is quite good! Lipsticks from this brand usually range from $1.99 to $2.99. So you can buy alot without feeling guilty about it ahaha.

Wednesday 29 October 2014

KKCenterHk N.NAIL Dejected Sad Tear Blue Bee Peony Nail Water DecalReview

Hello everyone! Today I have the N.NAIL Dejected Sad Tear Blue Bee Peony Nail Water Decals  from KKCenterHk to share with you all. Not sure why this product has such a sad name because I thought the flowers were really pretty and the colours/pattern reminded me of delicate teacups or expensive china plates.

Souce: KKCenterHk

The sheet of decal is priced at $2USD and comes with 10 rectangular boxes which you then cut accordingly to the size of your nail. It does take a bit more work compared to preformed decals but this way you get a more custom fit since not all nail beds are of average size.

Click to see more...

Tuesday 21 October 2014

KKCenterHk Traditional Retro Red Purple Peony Nail Water Decal Review

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's been overcast and rainy here for what feels like days. Today I have water decals from KKCenterHk to share with you all. As you guys know from my past posts I love anything and everything floral so I picked out N.NAIL Traditional Retro Red Purple Peony Nail Water Decals to try.

Source: KKCenterHk


Sunday 19 October 2014

Kinetics Nails System Limited Edition Secret Garden Collection Autumn2014

Wait just a minute...last time I looked up it was still summer. Can't believe how fast time is flying by. It's fall already and you know what that means...fall/winter releases.

"This fall, Kinetics' takes you for a walk through mysterious Secret Garden with the release of a limited edition range of new polish colors, featuring eight autumnal, saturated shades - with a matte effect finish."
Today I have 4 of Kinetics Nail System's Limited Edition Secret Garden Collection for Autumn 2014. The collection is composed of 8 matte fall ready shades.




Let's start off with my favourite....


Saturday 30 August 2014

KKCenterHk Lovely Cosmos Flowers Sea Water Decal Review

Hello again dear readers! Today I have another product sent to us from KKCenterHk for review. Water decals are another part of nail art that I adore, they're so easy to use and a perfect image is always transferred onto the nail.

I have the N.NAIL Lovely Tones Common Cosmos Flowers Sea Water Decals to share today. It is a full nail decal of various coloured flowers on a black background. The only thing I didn't like about the decal was that a light or white coloured base was needed before you could apply the decal otherwise the colour would not show up. The coloured flowers were surprisingly sheer and I was surprised when I first placed them on my nail and could hardly see any detail or colour. A bit more work is needed with this type of full nail decal as well as you would need to individually cut out the decal to fit your nail.

Otherwise the nail decal is pretty much fool proof application wise, as long as the decal is wet and the surface is wet as well it can be repositioned until you are happy with its placement.

Source: KKCenterHk



Click to see some looks I created with the water decals...

Thursday 14 August 2014

KKCenterHk Baby Blue Circle Nail Art Studs Review

Hello again dear followers! Today I have a sample generously sent to us by KKCenterHk that I'd like to share with you all. I'm no pro at nail art but I always have a soft spot for it, particularly anything dainty and sparkly. So when the chance came to review nail art studs I couldn't pass it up.

I have the N.NAIL Sweet Series Baby Blue 2mm Circle Nail Art Decorations to share today. The studs are a very pretty shade of iridescent baby blue that shine a slight purple/red colour at different angles. The only thing I didn't like about the studs was that I found that they sort of became invisible if they were placed on a similar base colour. The studs almost felt like they became translucent and slightly invisible. They are quite small at 2mm so they are difficult to place unless you had tweezer or a wax tipped pencil to help with precision placement.

The pack contains approximately 100 pcs and is priced at $2.50USD which is quite reasonable with the amount you receive.






Souce: KKCenterHk


Click to see a couple looks I came up with...