New York City. The glitz, the glam, the high-energy, basically everything I love about a major city.
I’ve only been to NYC once, in Grade 11 for a performing arts trip. I’m a big city girl, so it’s been on my hit-list of places to return to. Since then, I’ve been to many metropolitan areas, including London, Paris, Toronto, Vancouver, Mexico City, Rome, Las Vegas, but none hold a dime to the excitement of New York (except for maybe Vegas, who doesn’t like Vegas?!).
I’m happy to announce that I am a member of the New York Color Canada Beauty Pro Program, where a select few of us bloggers are tasked with challenges on how to emulate a certain New York-inspired look. For our first challenge, we were sent a box of products and we had to create something inspired by the madness that is Times Square.
My favourite part of New York City was hands down Times Square. The lights, the bustle, the people, the atmosphere — everything about it is amazing. I’ve been to many places that seem similar (Dundas Square, Picadilly Circus), but none hold a card to the original.
In our boxes, we were sent the Big Bold Volume by the Lash Mascara; three Show Time Velvet eyeliners in Black Brown, Black Velvet, and Black Wine; and three IndividualEyes Eyeshadow Powders in Midtown Mauve, Union Square, and Smokey Browns. All the palettes I was sent are designed for brown eyes. I have blue eyes, but it wasn’t a big deal to use the colours in the sets.
For this look I chose to make it smoky with glitter over top to up the oomph factor. Times Square is loud and glamorous, so obviously glitter and lashes had to make an appearance. Out of the three palettes, I chose to go with the smokey eyes palette. All three come with a primer base (such a good idea), an illuminator, and two shades which have an overlay saying where to place the colour.
1. With the primer base from the palette, apply this all over your lid area.
2. Grabbing the highlighter colour from the Smoky Eyes palette (the silver shade), place this along your brow bone.
3. For a transition shade, I grabbed the All Over Lid colour from the Union Square palette and placed this right under the highlight but slightly above the crease. Any matte brown shade will do.
4. With the All Over Lid shade from the Smoky Eyes palette, place this all over the lid area.
5. With a crease brush, grab the shimmery black colour from the Smoky Eyes palette and blend this into your crease. Go light as we don’t want it to be too heavy.
6. With a flat eyeshadow brush sprayed with a setting spray, grab some glitter (I used Make Up For Ever Holodium Powder) and place this all over the lid area.
7. With a black pencil liner, I used NYC Show Time Velvet Eyeliner in Black Velvet, line your upper lash line and then smudge it out.
8. Curl your lashes and coat them with mascara, then pop on some falsies. I used NYC Big Volume by the Lash mascara.
9. Line your eyes with a shimmery brown, I used NYC Show Time Velvet eyeliner Black Wine.
10. With the dark grey crease colour from the Smoky Eyes palette, smudge out the liner on the lower lash line. Apply a few coats of mascara to your bottom lashes and you’re done!
And that’s the final look! Make sure you pair this look with a nude lip so the eyes really shine.
This was my first foray into NYC eye products and I have to admit, they are quite impressive. The palettes are great because of the variety of colours, the pigmentation, and I absolutely love how they include an eyeshadow base, so smart!
Please note, products were sent by PR. All opinions are my own.
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Can we just talk about Revlon’s ColorStay Gel Envy polishes for a minute.
I feel like if there is one drugstore brand that consistently does it right for nail polish, it’s Revlon. The brand has been around for.ever. and they are known for their pigmented, long-lasting nail polishes that rival salon brands like Essie and OPI. So imagine my excitement when they released a “gel” version of lacquers. Oh my god, stop the presses.
Aptly named Gel Envy, the line of varnishes includes an impressive full house of 30 shades to choose from (all with cute casino names), everything from subtle muted shades to red-hot neons. The two-step process includes the colour (which has a built-in base coat) and a “diamond” topcoat (sold separately). The set guarantees vivid colour, brilliant shine, and “life-resistant” wear.
So since you don’t cure these bad boys, they aren’t technically real gel polish. I already reviewed Sally Hansen’s version a few weeks back, but it’s basically the same idea. Long-wearing colour with shine that rivals gel polish. No curing needed and best of all, it’s a simple process to remove.
I received a ton of shades from the line (swatched below), and although I definitely liked some colours more than others, I have to admit that the pigmentation on these are great. Same goes for the consistency, wear, and dry time. Honestly, compared to any other drugstore faux-line of gel polish I have tried, these win hands down. I can easily get at least three days of wear before my nails start to chip. Plus, and the best part, the colours are amazing. They are so vibrant that they glow off your nails. There were some shades where I wasn’t expecting to like them and once I had the colour on, I thought it made my nails pop.
The only thing I didn’t like about the line was that some of the darker shades stained my nail beds once I removed the colour. It’s a catch 22 though, as when I tried the colour with a separate base coat, it didn’t last as long. So it’s either have stained nails (not all the shades, just some) or have colour that doesn’t last as long.
Regardless, I still think that Revlon knocked it out of the park with this line of polishes. Check out your local drugstore for the full deck of shades.
Have you tried Revlon’s ColorStay Gel Envy polishes? What were your thoughts?
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Ever wonder what colours are complementary to your eye colour? With an abundance of eyeshadows in every colour imaginable, it can be a bit confusing for someone just starting out with makeup to decide what colour suits them best.
Well, Almay has made all the guessing simple with their Intense i-Color Smoky-i Kits, which comes in four shades, one for each eye colour (brown, blue, hazel, and green). Designed to be a smoky-eye kit, these do-it-yourself kits make it easy to achieve a smoky eye that will make your eye colour pop.
These have been around for a while and I remember when they first launched I thought it was a neat idea, but I personally wouldn’t choose some of the colours in the palettes for certain eye colours. For example, I wouldn’t do a blue smoky eye for blue eyes. I would do blues for brown eyes.
I received the green kit, which has a champagne highlight, a taupe for the crease, and a purple for the lid. Although these are designed for a smoky look, I actually tried this out doing it reverse for a wearable daytime eye and I have to admit that I actually got a comment saying how green my eyes looked. Mission accomplished. About a week later I decided to try a smoky eye with this (see photo directly above) and I actually really liked the final look. Almay also has a mascara and eyeliner designed for the same effect (different shades for different eye colours), both of which I have, so keep a look out for those.
Alright, so aside from how well it worked, I do have to say that I wish these colours were a bit more pigmented. They aren’t the best quality compared to others out there, but keep in mind this is a drugstore brand, and for under $10, these are worth it. Honestly, I was skeptical that my eyes would appear more green (they vary from blue to green), so I was quite surprised that I got a comment saying how green my eyes look. Well done, Almay, well done.
Have you tried any of Almay’s Intense i-Color Smoky-i Kits? What were your thoughts?
Also, don’t forget to enter my #ShineStrong Pantene giveaway!
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My favourite part of New York City was hands down Times Square. The lights, the bustle, the people, the atmosphere — everything about it is amazing. I’ve been to many places that seem similar (Dundas Square, Picadilly Circus), but none hold a card to the original.
