After receiving last year’s showstopper holiday set from Tarte, I was so excited to get my beauty blogger hands on this year’s offering. Just like Too Faced, Tarte comes out with holiday sets similar to previous years, with a few updates.
The Tarte Bon Voyage Collector’s Set and Travel Bag includes 20 full-size Amazonian Clay eyeshadows, a full-size LipSurgence lip tint, a full-size LipSurgence lip gloss, a deluxe-size of Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 mascara, deluxe-size cheek stain, deluxe size Maracuja Oil, and a deluxe-size Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder, all housed in a limited-edition travel bag. Last year’s set was very similar but had a fold-out hanging bag, as well as eight lip glosses, a Maracuja eye cream and a deluxe Amazonian Clay blush. It also featured a portfolio of eyeshadows, very similar to this years.
Unfortunately it looks like it’s sold out on Sephora online, however check your local stores if you are interested in this set. I find Tarte makeup to be very high quality and great to work with. The shadows are super pigmented, blendable and easy to use. All you need to do is dab your brush into the colour and blend, blend, blend. The assortment of shades they give you is good, however, I wish there were a highlight shade in here. I feel like a lack of highlight is missing in a lot of palettes I’ve seen this holiday season.
As for the rest of the set, I also have friends that rave about their Maracuja Oil and the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara. I do prefer the bag in this set as opposed to the one from last year, but I wish they would have included a blush. There was one in last year’s set and although they did released a new blush palette for the season (as a follow up to last year’s uber popular Off The Cuff palette), I think an addition of a blush would have been a nice touch in this set.
For the value of this set ($59 USD), I think this is a great gift because of the amount of shadows and the other products you get. I do prefer the Too Faced Everything Nice set to this one, but it depends who you are buying it for. I gave the Tarte set to my mom last year and I definitely think this would be perfect for girls of all ages, whereas the Too Faced set is more for ladies in the teens to 35 age range.
I’ll be posting a holiday look later this week using this palette, so check back soon!
Is the Tarte Bon Voyage set on your wish list this year?
Please note, this set was sent by PR. All opinions are my own.
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So I literally haven’t done a favourites post in years (aside from my yearly favourites), but I was in Saskatoon all week for work and needed something as my Friday post. I love watching favourites videos on YouTube, however, for me, I mostly just use all the same products every month.
With that being said, since my makeup collection is so vast now, many items that I may have once loved when I got them often get tossed to the back of the proverbial makeup drawer, forgotten about, while I try new things. This past month I found myself using a lot of items that I received or bought months ago (or even last year) and loving again, as well as new stuff that I can’t see myself living without (at least for the next month :p).
First up on the list are new skincare items. I received the First Aid Beauty Cheers to Fab Skin set to try out for review and I have to say, I’m in love. I’ve been a Clinique Three-Step System girl since I was 15, but this stuff is amazing. Prior to giving this a try, I had lots of breakouts on the lower portion of my face, and after a few days of using these products, they pretty much cleared up. The set included the FAB Face Cleanser (which I use with my Clarisonic Mia 2 at night and just itself in the morning), the FAB Facial Radiance Pads (ran out of these after two weeks, but they are amazing), the FAB Ultra Repair Cream, the FAB Ultra Repair Lip Therapy, and the FAB Eye Duty Triple Remedy. I am still using the cleanser, the eye cream and the moisturizer (as well as the balm) and really love what they are doing for my skin. I really want to buy the Facial Radiance Pads again, however C$38 for 60 pads (a month’s usage if you use a pad morning and night) is a little steep.
As for the rest of my body, I have been slathering on The Body Shop Wild Argan Oil Body Butter mostly every night before bed for super smooth skin when I wake up. This stuff is infused with Argan Oil, which is just what I need for the dry winter weather.
For makeup, I have a few items that I have been constantly reaching for. The first is the Lise Watier Feline Eyeliner HD in brown. I received this during the London Drugs fall beauty preview in Vancouver back in June and although I’ve always used black liquid liner, a little brown with the right shadow can really make your eyes pop. This is a lighter brown, but the thing about using this rather than black is that it really makes your lashes stand out and appear longer. I love using this liner with a brown or copper eye. I’ve also paired it with the shadows from the Feline palette and it just makes your whole eye look so beautiful and different. Subtle, but sexy.
Another new item I have been loving is Benefit’s Majorette Booster Blush. This little guy came out a couple months ago and it gives you the most perfect creamsicle cheeks. Not only does it smell great, but the texture is similar to Make Up For Ever’s HD Blushes, so a cream but not messy. Think second-skin formula. Plus, I find the colour so universal and flattering, I can’t think of a skin tone that it wouldn’t work for.
An oldie but a goodie, I have been reaching a lot for the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette. I literally would call Sephora every day when this first came out last year waiting for them to get it in. I finally got my hands on it, used it for like a month and then it sat in my makeup drawer not getting the proper attention it needed. Well my friends, it’s back with a vengeance and I basically use this everyday to finish off my makeup. First I will lightly powder my face with Dim Light, then contour with Radiant Light, then highlight with Incandescent Light for airbrushed skin. I don’t know what it is about these powders but they really make your skin look amazing. This palette was limited edition when it was first released, but I know they brought it back for the holiday season, so check your Sephora stores, it’s worth the splurge.
The last makeup item is a tool. I’ve been a huge fan of the Beauty Blender for years now and have tried other sponges out there. To be honest, nothing has even come close to the texture and ease of the original. Then Jess bought me the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge ($6, like a quarter of what the Beauty Blender costs) and hold your horses, I think I might like this one better. It works the same way – wet the sponge, squeeze out the excess water and dab the product into your skin. You have the pointed top that the Beauty Blender has, but you also have an angled flat edge that lets you really get the product into your skin. The best part is that I find it’s the same consistency as the Beauty Blender, which is the problem I have had with other sponges in the past. Nothing has even come close to the softness and bounce that the original had. Save your money and pick this guy up instead. My friend got this at Ulta but I believe that they also have a store online.
Finally, the last item on my list is Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black perfume. This guy is available exclusively at Sephora and although I didn’t see what the hype was when I first smelled it, when I received a sample of it at Sephora months back and actually sprayed it on my skin, I knew I had to have it. It’s so amazing I’ve even had two of my friends purchase it. Lord knows I don’t need any more perfumes, but this was the only item on my VIB list this year and has replaced Flowerbomb as my date night perfume (although I still have a special place in my heart for Flowerbomb as well).
What items were your favourites for November?
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For a gal who doesn’t look a day over the age of 10, it’s hard to believe that Hello Kitty turned 40 years old this year.
Sephora has been releasing Hello Kitty collections since 2010, and from what I understand, this 40th anniversary collection is their last collab with the Sanrio sweetheart. I have a number of items from past collections, and although the quality isn’t the greatest, the items are super cute and, let’s be honest here, really appeal moreso for the Hello Kitty factor, as opposed to the quality of the product.
The 40th anniversary collection includes an eyeshadow palette, crystal-encrusted handheld mirror (I have the silver one from the inaugural collection), a crystal handheld mirror, nail set, lip balm set, and much more.
Being a Hello Kitty fanatic, I was so excited to receive a few items from the collection, including the Hello Kitty Pop-Up Party Eyeshadow Palette, The Red Bow Diaries set, and Kawaii Nail Set.
Eye look featuring Milk, Celebrate, Apple Pie, Bright, and The Original.
My favourite item is hands-down the eyeshadow palette (C$62, on sale for $39). Filled with 20 shadows (mattes and shimmers), this box set includes a top that opens up to reveal a pop-up and a drawer that pulls out with the shadows. I have tried the Hello Kitty eyeshadows in the past and thought the quality was alright, so my expectations for this set were low, however, I was pleasantly surprised by how nice these actually turned out. I feel like the selection of colours isn’t the greatest, but overall, I highly recommend this set if you are a Hello Kitty fan. The rest of the line is pretty novelty, but the quality of these were a nice surprise.
If you would rather have something more obviously Hello Kitty, take a look at the Kawaii Nail Set, which includes Hello Kitty nail accents and two nail polishes to embrace the HK spirit. Definitely more of a keepsake item, this set includes a nail file, Hello Kitty signature stamper kit, two polishes in red and white, 3D nail rhinestones, 3D tiny apple nail art, three 1974 nail stickers, three accent nail appliqués, all housed in a collectible tin. This set (C$47, on sale for $24) is more of a collector’s item for someone who loves Hello Kitty as opposed to someone who is looking for more quality nail products. The Hello Kitty crystals fell off my nails within a few hours and the polish chipped after a day.
Finally, the most “collector’s item” piece from the set, The Red Bow Beauty Diaries is filled with 15 exclusive Hello Kitty colour cosmetics and collectibles. The case contains a “message” from Hello Kitty, a Milk Money coin purse, Charmmy hair tie, 1974 figurine, 16 bandages, a pair of accent nail appliqués, two lip glosses in Strawberry Pink and Toffee Nude, two Pretty in Pearl eyeshadow sticks in Hot Cocoa and Champagne Rose, two Electric Slide liquid liners in violet and royal blue, two Plus Pout lip balms in Cherry Red and Coral Crush, and a Pink Streak hair mascara.
I hate to say it, but I do find this set the most useless out of all the offerings from the collection, and this is coming from a huge Hello Kitty fan. I would only buy this for the most die-hard of die-hard Hello Kitty fan, as not only do the cosmetic items look cheap, but for $33 (sale price, retails regularly for C$65), this just isn’t worth the money in my opinion. The items are cute (especially the little coin purse, which probably only holds like five dimes), but there are other sets in the collection which are more appealing than this one.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed by the choice of items in this collection. The showstoppers are definitely the mirrors, especially the handheld one, however, for C$234 is not worth the money in my opinion. The whole collection is on sale on Sephora online (aside from the handheld mirror – of course!), so if there is something you are interested in, getting it for half off is more appealing than the full price, which to be honest was a bit more expensive than I feel it should be. With that being said, I do highly recommend the eyeshadow palette if you wanted to pick something up. I mean after all, she only turns 40 once, right?
Are any 40th anniversary Hello Kitty items on your list?
Please note I was sent these products from PR. All opinions are my honest own.
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