Tag Archives: “That Gal”

What’s in my travel makeup bag

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So I am slowly getting getting back into the swing of things.  Whoever said “I need a vacation after a vacation” was seriously a genius.  Anyways, I will get onto the haul posts but I’m saving those until the weekend when I’ll have more time to take photos.  In the meantime I thought I would share what makeup I pack for when I travel.

The bag I use is the Holt Renfrew Paramount Beauty Bag which was available last Christmas season at Holt Renfrew stores (it’s like a Canadian Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue).  I am seriously obsessed with this bag.  I have a ton of different makeup bags but this one is just the perfect bag for travel.  It has three compartments (a large bag, a smaller, separate pouch, and a mesh pouch inside that you can snap out).  I put all my makeup in the main bag with the smaller items (like tweezers, eyelash curlers, perfume, etc.) in the mesh pocket.  My makeup brushes, as well as Q-tips, cotton pads, and jewelry were stored in the removable, smaller pouch.  Everything fit perfectly, and was stuffed full by the time I came home (like always, I loaded up on makeup on vacation).

Anyways, here is what I packed for my trip (this is not including the makeup I bought there, I’m saving that for my haul post).

  • MAC Pro Longwear foundation (NC 15)
  • It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye Concealer
  • Maybelline 24-Hour Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe
  • MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study
  • YSL Touche Eclat (I forgot what number I am on this, I want to say 1)
  • Angel perfume purse spray
  • Bath and Body Works Vanilla Noel hand sanitizer
  • Clinique trio (I use the colour sable for my eyebrows)
  • eos lip sphere (strawberry I think)
  • NARS Danmari cheek palette (includes four blushes, one highlight, and a bronzer)
  • Urban Decay Naked palette
  • Benefit High Beam
  • Benefit That Gal! primer
  • Urban Decay Primer Potion (mini sized)
  • MAC black Liquid Eye Liner
  • MAC black eyeliner pencil
  • Sephora eyelash curler
  • Shu Uemura mini eyelash curler (for those hard to reach lashes)
  • DiorShow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum and Primer (travel sized)
  • DiorShow mascara (travel sized)
  • YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick in #7 Lingerie Pink
  • MAC lipstick in Quick Sizzle, Innocence, Beware!, and Naughty Saute (all from the Shop MAC collection)
  • MAC Kissable Lip Colour in Enchantee
  • Velour lashes in Lash in City
  • Lash Grip eyelash glue

As for the brushes, I brought three eyeshadow brushes (they are all brush sizes and textures), an angled contour brush, a blush brush, a pencil brush, a flat top powder brush (I use this for liquid foundation), a crease brush, and a few others for miscellaneous makeup application.

Phew! Looking back at the list it does appear that I brought a ton of stuff but I did end up using everything except for MAC’s Quick Sizzle lipstick and YSL’s Rouge Volupte #7.

What do you carry in your travel makeup bag?  Leave me a comment below!

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My Makeup Must Haves!

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So a couple of weeks ago on Temptalia one of the questions from her “Temptalia Asks You” series was “If you could only bring seven makeup items on vacation, what would you choose?” And that got me thinking…. what seven products would I choose?

I have to start off by saying that this is not an easy question to answer!  There are a number of products that I use everyday religiously.  I did manage to narrow it down to seven but then as soon as I took the photos I realized that I totally forgot a lip product.  I am obsessed with lipsticks, but in the morning when I get ready I never put on a lipstick or gloss.  Why?  Well, I get dressed then eat then when I get to work I have a coffee, so I don’t actually put something on my lips until around after lunch.  I will often use a lip balm, which in my opinion is a necessity so I don’t think that would count as part of this challenge.

Here are the products I chose and why:

YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Mascara

I am obsessed with this mascara and I actually had to dig this out of my garbage for this photo (gross I know.. the things I do for this blog) because the tube is older than four months and running low.  I love this mascara, you get curl, length, and the appearance of fuller, longer lashes.

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

This foundation is pricey but oh so worth it.  It leaves your skin flawless because of it’s full coverage quality and feels so nice when worn.  I am currently using MAC’s Pro Longwear, which is also good, but it’s no Laura Mercier.  My face looks so perfect when I wear this stuff.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Technically I’m not cheating by choosing one product that contains 12 eyeshadows.  This palette is basically the only eyeshadow palette anyone will ever need.  It contains a whack of wearable shades to create virtually any look (well okay, maybe not crazy electric blue looks).  It has a highlighter, some matte colours, shimmery shades, you name it.

Urban Decay Primer Potion

I was hesitant to choose this product because I only had seven products to choose here, but when it comes down to it, because I chose an eyeshadow palette I had to choose a primer too.  UDPP is my favourite eye primer because it leaves your eyeshadow looking fresh and radiant and doesn’t budge for the entire day.

NARS Danmari Cheek Palette

Like the Naked palette, this NARS cheek palette contains six colours – four blushes, a bronzer and highlighter.  Basically everything you need and then some to create a perfectly sculpted face and radiant cheek bones.

MAC Liquid Eye Liner

This is my eyeliner of perfection and I guess I could have nixed it by using Creep from the Naked palette as a liner, but I love the look of a good liquid liner.  It creates such good definition on the eye area that I think it’s a must have for sure.

Benefit That Gal Primer

I chose Benefit’s That Gal primer because it’s the only one I have at the moment, but really any face primer works.  This one though does smell divine and makes my foundation glide on smoothly.  Once I started using primers I can’t go back. If you are going to invest in makeup I think you have to invest in a primer to get the full effects of the product.

As you see I didn’t mention a concealer. Why?  Well, Laura Mercier’s foundation is so full coverage that I don’t really need a concealer, everything is concealed after I apply it.  Of course, it’s probably different for everyone which leads me to what would be your seven products?  Leave me a comment below!

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The Holiday Collection: Benefit Cosmetics The Big 10

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Have you ever wanted to dab your fingers in a little bit of everything from a makeup brand?  I know I have and thankfully Benefit Cosmetics has solved our problem!

I have always admired Benefit in the past because I love their witty packaging and fun names, but I have always found the brand to be a bit on the pricey side. I used to use their Bad Gal Lash mascara religiously (one of my holy grail makeup products) but other than that I haven’t really tried anything else from the iconic brand.   They have a variety of different cult products, like for instance their Benetint liquid blush.  Now if you were always freaked out by the fact that this blush is literally a liquid (like me) now you can try it (risk free!) along with nine other of their bestselling face products.This fantastic set is comprised of 10 samplers to let you basically try out (and love) the Benefit brand.  Honestly, every brand should do this because it let’s people try out different products under their brand umbrella.

The set includes minis of some of their most popular products:

  • Erase Paste – Brightening camouflage for eyes and face (concealer)
  • Stay Don’t Stray – Stay-put primer for concealers and eyeshadows
  • Benetint – Rose-tinted lip and cheek stain
  • Posietint – Poppy-pink tinted lip and cheek stain
  • High Beam – Luminescent complexion enhancer
  • “That Gal” – Brightening face primer
  • Bella Bamba – a 3-D brightening pink face powder
  • The POREfessional – PRO balm to minimize the appearance of pores
  • Dandelion – a brightening face powder
  • Oh La Lift – Instant under-eye brightening boost
I myself am new to all these products so I was extremely excited to try them out.  Their Benetint product is a cult favourite (expect a Cult Collection post coming soon!), as well as Erase Paste.  There are also products that other brands make similar things of such as Stay Don’t Stray and “That Gal”.
All the samples are a generous size and I honestly think will last a while if you don’t use them religiously everyday.  Once you are done the set, just buy the products you loved.
I did try out some of the products (there are so many of them!) and thought I would quickly go over some of my thoughts.

Erase Paste is on the left eye, right eye without

The first product I used was Erase Paste, which is a jar concealer.  The product had a soft whipped consistency to it and blended in very nicely.  I have read on other blogs that this stuff is too thick for some people, I didn’t find that all at.  I applied this over my foundation so I didn’t really have any dark circles but I did notice my eyes looked brighter after I applied it.

Benetint Applied

Posietint Applied
Next product I tried was their iconic (and very first product) Benetint which is a liquid blush.  This rose-tinted blush is surprisingly easy to work with and all it took was a few swipes on my cheeks and some blending and voila! Perfect flushed cheeks.  I actually really liked this product and the rose smell was delish.  Look for an in-depth post coming soon!
Aside from Benetint they also have Posietint, which is the same product but more of a baby pink.  I really liked this product as well, but if I had to choose between the two tints I would choose the original.

Dandelion blush

Dandelion applied

Bella Bamba applied

Aside from the tints, the set also includes two blushes, Bella Bamba (a coral pink) and Dandelion (a blush pink).  These blushes are very generous sized, as I believe that they will last you a while, you get quite a lot in the pan.  Also, I have a million other blushes, so these won’t be gone anytime soon.

Bella Bamba reminds me of NARS Orgasm because of the shade and the fact that I think it could be universal for any skin type.  This colour to me is very weekday, I would wear this to the office or a special event.  Dandelion is a lot softer, it’s a great lazy Sunday shade, like if I wanted to just relax and have a basic face.  These are the first Benefit blushes I have tried and I am very impressed with them, the colour payoff is great.  Especially for Bella Bamba, a little goes a long way.

High Beam

Next product I loved was High Beam, which is a liquid highlighter.  I applied it to my cheekbones and there was some noticeable shine present.  The product, once blended, gives off a nice illumination wherever it’s placed.  Aside from your cheekbones you can also use it on the bridge of your nose and on your brow bone.

Stay Don't Stray primer. Makeup applied at 8:15 a.m.

Eye makeup at 4:30 p.m.

As for their primer, Stay Don’t Stray, which is to be applied underneath eyeshadows and concealers, the product seemed to work fine enough but my makeup definitely wasn’t as fresh as when I first put it on.  I did apply too much initially, all you really need is a dab.  My favourite primer is Urban Decay’s Primer Potion which retails for a little less than the Benefit version ($23 versus $30 CDN) so I don’t think I would purchase the full size of this product (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it).

So why is this a good present?  Well, it let’s you get your feet wet in the brand!  Benefit is a pricey brand, so to get samples of 10 products is a good deal.  Have you ever bought an expensive product and didn’t really like it?  It happens to all of us, so why not save someone the trouble and let them test out a generous sample beforehand.  I would love a gift like this because Benefit makes awesome products and to have the chance to sample a handful of them would be awesome.  Also, because these are face products, they are basically the foundation behind the rest of your makeup. Foundation primers I find are kind of pricey, but in this set you essentially get two of them plus a concealer, a highlighter, four blushes, and a few other essential goodies.

Currently The Big 10 is a Sephora exclusive which unfortunately is out of stock online but check your local store, they may have some left.  It retails for $32 USD.
Have you tried Benefit Cosmetic’s The Big 10?  Is it on your list?

Please note: I did receive this product for review, however, it did not affect my opinions on it.  All opinions are my honest own :) .  


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