I’ve been obsessed with drugstore makeup lately.
Since drugstore brands are expanding their range of products, you can do a full face of makeup, all with products at a lower price point. And lots of your favourite makeup products, including cult-classic shadow palettes, primers, and setting sprays, are now getting more affordable dupes.
Love the Urban Decay Naked palette? Well, what if I told you you could pick up a similar palette for C$7.97? In case you missed it, New York Color’s spokesperson is Demi Lovato, who recently released a makeup collection with the brand exclusively at Wal-Mart. In addition to an eyebrow pencil and mascara, the Lovatics by Demi line includes a natural shadow palette, complete with 12 nude shades.
In case you haven’t seen the Natural eyeshadow palette, it’s almost an exact dupe for Urban Decay’s Naked One. In fact, when I first laid my eyes on it, I was like “wait a minute…”. So in honour of my most-used shades from the Urban Decay Naked Palette, Buck, Sin, Naked, and Virgin, I came up with a wearable everyday makeup look that is completely made up of drugstore products.
Since I wanted to show you guys how amazing the NYC Lovatics by Demi collection is (the mascara retails for C$4.97 and the eyebrow liner is C$3.97), as well as some incredible new releases from Rimmel London, Maybelline, and CoverGirl, this look is totally wearable and totally affordable.
1.
Since this is a light eyeshadow look, I applied my foundation first. I used Rimmel London Fix & Protect Primer. For foundation, I used Rimmel London Match Perfection Foundation in Soft Beige.
2. Next, moving onto the brows, I used the NYC Lovatics by Demi Eyebrow Liner in Medium Brown then Rimmel London Brow This Way Brow Styling Gel to set them.
3. Next, lay down an eyeshadow primer (I used Maybelline Eyestudio Mattifying Eyeshadow Primer) then with a fluffy crease brush, apply shade three (the lighter matte brown) from the Lovatics palette into your crease.
4. Using that same brush, grab shade five (the darker matte brown, AKA the dupe for UD Buck) and apply that over the lighter brown in your crease to darken it up.
5. With an eyeshadow brush, apply shade two, the shimmery champagne, on your lids.
6. For the brow highlight, apply shade one (a shimmery bone) to your brow bone.
7. Curl your lashes and apply a couple coats of mascara. I used NYC Lovatics by Demi Volume & Length Mascara. For the lower lash line, I apply the darker matte brown (shade five) and then curled my lashes with mascara. I popped shade one into the inner corner to highlight.
8. Apply your concealer (I used Rimmel London Match Perfection Skin Tone Adapting Concealer in Fair) and then contour and add blush. I used CoverGirl Tru Blend Bronzer and Tru Blend Blush in Light Rose.
9. For the highlight, I used the highlight shade from the Maybelline Face Studio Master Contour Contouring Kit.
10. For the lips, I went with a poppy pink. I used Rimmel London The Only 1 Lipstick in Pink a Punch.
This is usually my go-to look for when I want to wear a bright colour lip, so I love how you can totally rock it for way less money.
For under $8 I’m super impressed by the quality of the shadows in the Lovatics by Demi palette, and if you can get your hands on it, it’s totally worth it. I also really love the eyebrow pencil, although I’m not a huge fan of the brush on the lid, but it’s no biggie since I have a spoolie anyways on hand.
To celebrate the awesomeness behind the NYC Lovatics by Demi collection, New York Color Canada was so gracious to send me a signed copy of Demi Lovato’s Confident album, which I’m going to pass onto one lucky reader, as well as items from her collection, including the eyeshadow palette, mascara and brow liner. The contest is open internationally and closes on April 30; enter via the Rafflecopter below.
Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Please note, I was sent these items by PR. All opinions are my own.
There’s no doubt, when one thinks of eyeshadows, few brands come to mind. One of them is definitely MAC.
I have my fair share of MAC shadows, including a 15-colour curated MAC Pro palette that I bought in Vegas years ago. At C$19 a pop though, their shadows can get quite pricey. No doubt the most bang for your buck you can get is definitely a palette of shadows and MAC is finally joining the bandwagon when it comes to releasing these as part of their permanent collection.
Introducing Eyes on MAC, a collection of well-edited palettes available in either nine shades or 15. Although you get a little less product than the full-size shadows, these retail for considerably less than buying each shade separately. In fact, the nine-shade palette is C$42 (a C$63 value; so essentially almost the same price, well a little more, as two full-size shadows) and the 15-shade for C$85 (a $192 value).
These actually became part of the permanent collection last year, however, I recently received one of the nine-shade palettes in Smoky Metallic. Upon further research, it looks like this guy is a Macy’s exclusive, so I’m not sure if it’s available here in Canada.
The palette contains glitters, shimmers and mattes in the follow shades: Simple Sensation, Give Me Fire, Black Factor, Filament, Spice Bar, Carbon, By the Silver Moon, Richy-Rich, and Petrol. Although you get less product, the shade range in here is great, and let’s be real, what are the odds you’re gonna hit pan on all of these. Besides, at this price, this is a great way to try out an assortment of MAC shadows and weed out the good from the bad. If you hit pan, then you might as well go out and buy the full size.
Just like any other MAC shadow the formulation on these are great. In fact, I couldn’t wait to dive in and try this guy out, so when my boyfriend told me he wanted to take me out for dinner this past Saturday, I grabbed this guy right away (part of the excitement of going out is getting an opportunity to try out and wear all my new makeup, but shhh don’t tell him that..). I wanted to try out an assortment of the shadows to really get a good idea of how well these work. Some of them I already own in my collection (like Carbon), so I chose to focus more on the ones that aren’t really conventional for daytime and opted to create this gold baroque-inspired look by layering some of the shades.
1. Fill in your brows (I used the New York Color Lovatics brow pencil with the Rimmel London Brow This Way Eyebrow Gel). After, lay down an eyeshadow primer (I used Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer in Fair) and then with a fluffy crease brush, grab the colour Simple Sensation, a matte light taupe, and lightly brush that into the crease.
2. With a flat shader brush, pat Black Factor, a matte dark grey, all over the lid area. Then, with the fluffy crease brush, blend out the edges.
3. With the other side of that flat shader brush, spray it with a setting spray then pick up the colour Richy-Rich, a glittery dark gold, and pat it over the matte grey to add some dimension.
4. Skip the liner and instead apply some mascara and falsies. For the lower lash line, brush on Black Factor and then Richy-Rich in the inner corner. Finish the bottom lashes with mascara.
Currently, on MAC’s website are six different palettes in the Eyes on MAC Times Nine collection and three in the 15 collection. If you can’t get your hands on the Smoky Metallics one, the Navy Times Nine one is very similar.
If you love MAC shadows, then I would definitely look into purchasing these since the value on the palettes are great, plus they are small enough that you can just toss them in your makeup bag before heading out the door. These are also perfect for those just getting into makeup and want to dabble with some higher-end products. There’s a reason MAC shadows are so popular and it took MAC a while to finally release some brand-curated shadow palettes, but I’m glad they finally got around to doing it.
Have you tried any of the Eyes on MAC nine or 15 palettes?
Please note, I was sent these products from PR. All opinions are my own.
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An iconic brand just had a milestone birthday.
I think we all know The Body Shop. And I think we all have our favourite TBS product. Mine is probably the body butter since it’s so creamy and just absorbs into your skin. The shower gels are amazing as well, and so is their skincare. And let’s not forget the value sets… Okay, everything at The Body Shop is amazing.
I’m 27 years old and I’ve been familiar with the brand for as long as I can remember, so it came as no surprise to hear that The Body Shop turned 40 years old this past Saturday. The company actually reached out to me to help spread the celebration and write a little about their history. For example, we all know they are into ethical beauty and truly making a difference in the world, but they were actually the brand to pioneer the ethical beauty movement. In celebration of their anniversary, they recently launched a new Enrich Not Exploit Commitment, with a set of targets to help the brand become the world’s most ethical and sustainable global business.
A little background history, the company was founded in Brighton, Southeast England in 1976 and they now employ more than 22,000 people in 65 countries around the world. 250 million people visit the 3,300 stores around the world every year.
I think we can all think of some iconic products that they have released (for me it’s just the scent Satsuma), but they were super kind to send me a whack of stuff that helped make The Body Shop the household name it is today. One of their earliest products was the Vitamin E skincare range, which has been loved all over the world since 1977. This range, which includes the first product – the Vitamin E Moisture Cream, gives long-lasting hydration and helps protect against environmental damage. In 1981 The Body Shop introduced the iconic cruelty-free White Musk scent, the first-ever product made with vegetarian musk oil. The scent is still an iconic pillar of the brand, with other fragrances being introduced to the collection over the years, including Black Musk, the latest addition to the range (and Red Musk, one of my favourite winter scents!). In 1985 The Body Shop launched its cooling Peppermint Foot Lotion after London Marathon runners came into the a London store complaining about their sore feet.
In 1992 one of the biggest launches happened, the first body butter. It all started with the scent mango and is now one of the most famous products in their entire range of items. The product has been imitated and copied since, but theirs is still winning awards worldwide. Another iconic product was launched in 1997, the Tea Tree Oil, which is a tiny bottle containing a much-loved natural solution to help keep skin looking clear and blemish-free. Although it was originally sourced in Australia, it now comes from their Community Trade supplier in Kenya. In 1998 they launched They Body Shop Hemp range, which caused wide-spread controversy when the press wrote about hemp’s relationship to cannabis. Obviously this made the launch a huge success and the product is still popular today.
In 2006, the brand was acquired by L’Oreal, but that didn’t change the spirit of The Body Shop. They went on to introduce 100 per cent post-consumer recycled PET bottles in 2008, the Stop Trafficking of Children & Young People campaign in 2009, and so many more campaigns and iconic products (including the Drops of Youth Concentrate in 2012, which became the number-one selling product at The Body Shop).
When I think of The Body Shop as just a consumer who uses their products, the two things that come to mind are their commitment to ethical and sustainable practices, as well as amazing products for a great value. There are a ton of skincare lines of there and although The Body Shop is so mass produced because of the amount of stores in the world, the quality of products don’t hinder. And I think it’s that commitment to quality and making the world a better place that gets people coming back for more.
Here’s to another 40!
Do you shop at The Body Shop?
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