My Little Obsession

I was cleaning my room the other day when I found this stash below... 

...my makeup bag collection!

I had to laugh when I saw it. I mean, it's not a very big collection at all, but did I really need to have so many makeup bags?? Probably not. Not to mention the funny pattern I seemed to notice. Can you spot what I'm talking about?

Love the shape of these bags. They're wider at the bottom so you can fit a whole ton of stuff in here.

These are the pink and frilly makeup bags. Totally cute!

And here are the more sophisticated looking bags. I wanted to ditch the cute hearts and girly frills for something a bit more "grown-up", so to say. I adore these bags! They are strong, sturdy, waterproof and great quality bags.

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Sooo... .as you've probably noticed, I have a bit of an obsession with makeup bags and I seem to go through phases where I end up buying the same styles over and over again, depending what I happen to like at the moment. Therefore, I end up with the same sort of bags all the time. I'm like that when it comes to buying makeup too. Often I will come home ecstatic after purchasing an eyeshadow or lipstick, only to discover that I already own about 10 million others of the same (or really similar) shades. Guess I just tend to stick to the things I like. Haha =P
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The white bag pictured above was my favourite for the longest time. This bag is from Sephora. As you can see, the flower pattern extends into the inside of the bag and is also waterproof, making this a gorgeous bag that's super easy to clean. 

This is another of my favourites. I love the heart-shaped quilted pattern on the front and the added touch with the frills.

This bag below is my most current make-up bag. 
I'm happy to say that it's different from all the rest (phew!).

Recently, I've down-sized my makeup bag to this little one here because I found myself using only certain items on a daily basis so I didn't need such a large makeup bag anymore.

There's a waterproof quilted finish on the outside and a cute polka dot pattern inside. 

As you can see, this bag is quite small, but don't let its small size fool you. This little bag here easily holds all of my essentials. 

What's in my makeup bag:

1. ELF Shine Eraser Blotting Sheets

2. mirror

3. q-tips / bobby pin / hair tie

4. bandaid

5. L'Oreal Voluminous Waterproof Mascara

6. Maybelline Waterproof Liquid Liner

7. ELF Eyelash Curler

8. Rimmel Lipstick (in Nude Delight)

9. Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Gloss (in Pink Perfection)

10. Paula's Choice Soft Cream Concealer

11. Nyx Concealer in a Jar

12. The Body Shop Retractable Lip Brush 

13. ELF Natural Radiance Blusher (in Glow)

Note: I keep mostly inexpensive makeup in my everyday bag because these are the products I go through quickly and also, if anything happens, they can be easily replaced. 

These are must-haves in my makeup bag. You've heard me rave about these before in my "January Loves" post. This is pretty much what I use everyday.

Usually, my makeup lasts long enough that I don't have to worry about touch-ups but I keep concealer in my bag just incase. I use the NYX Concealer in a Jar along with the retractable brush from The Body Shop to spot conceal and then use a creamier concealer for my undereye area.

ELF Shine Eraser Blotting Sheets are a staple for me. They work just as well as the Clean & Clear Blotting Sheets but are only $1.  These are soft like tissue paper while the Clean & Clear ones are sort of plastic-like. Because these sheets are so thin, you do have to be careful of tearing it.

My lipstick, lipgloss and blush varies daily, but I keep these three as my go-to everyday colours. The blush pictured is the ELF Natural Radiance Blush in the colour Glow. It's quite powdery and tends to have a bit of fallout, but the colour itself is gorgeous. This blush is also just $1.

Swatches

Left: Rimmel Lipstick in Nude Delight

Middle: Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Gloss in Pink Perfection

Right: ELF Natural Radiance Blusher in Glow

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That's all for now!

Thanks for reading :)

♥ Anita

Going Crazy For Mint Green

Lately I have been obsessed with nail polishes

and one particular shade of polish to be exact....

Essie Mint Candy Apple <3

Candy apples are delicious and so is this ad!

It immediately caught my attention when I saw it.

I heard many people raving about this polish

so I went to look up swatches and when I did...

I fell in love and knew I had to get it!

Guess you can say that it was love at first sight?

It's such a pretty pale mint green colour. 

I can't stop looking at my nails when I have it on!

It's probably one of the brightest colours I've worn in a while and most certainly a colour that stands out. It took a bit of getting used to, but I'm really liking it now. <3

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I mean, how can you not love a polish that 

reminds you of mint chocolate ice cream??

I adooore eating this stuff. YUM!

Another one of my favourites when I was small:

chocolate mint sticks :D

I'm so sad they don't sell these here anymore.

I've had no luck finding them whatsoever :( 

Sooo... I've been substituting them with After Eight mints.

These are soft mints so they're not quite the same, but they're alright. 

These are two of my NEW favourites. I'm liking how the mint flavour is blended right into the chocolate and that it has a solid texture. I don't really like the other ones that come with a soft layer of mint squished between two layers of chocolate (like the After Eights). I like my chocolates hard so I can let them melt slowly in my mouth and savour it... anyway, I'm getting totally sidetracked!

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I remember the first mint polish that caught my eye was this one.

I'm sure you all recognize it too. 

Chanel - Jade

After this polish came out, I really started noticing other pale, mint green variations that came out such as the ones I'm about the show you. All are a pretty mint colour, but slightly different and unique from the rest.

OPI - Hey! Get in Lime!

I like the name of this one :)

China Glaze - Refresh Mint

This is one of the newest shades from China Glaze.

It's part of their new Up & Away Collection which I absolutely LOVE! All of the pastel shades are to die for. It's really rare that I'll like almost ALL the colours in a collection, but this one really seems to hit the spot. Check it out here: Up & Away <3

Knock Out Cosmetics - Liberty
(Sold at Aritzia)

This polish came out a while ago at Aritzia. I didn't pay much attention to it before since the price of it is insane for a polish, in my opinion. I think it's something like $21 here?? But I happened to take a quick swatch of it the other day out of curiosity and surprisingly, it looks quite nice. It's got a matte finish so it's definitely unique from the rest. I'm not so good with wearing matte polishes (they chip on me so fast!) but I know some people adore matte polishes, so this might be something for you. You can see the rest of their matte collection here: koknockout.com

That's all the pale/mint green polishes I've been noticing so far.
Hope you've enjoyed looking at these as much as I have!
♥ Anita

Images via: therepressedpastrychef.com, kaboodle.com,
head2toebeauty.com, koknockout.com

My January Loves

Hello everyone!

Seems like January just flew by in a blur and it's already February! Over the last month, there were some products I found myself using over and over again so I thought I'd share with you my loves of the month. Better late than never right? ;) So here goes in no particular order...

1. Physicans Formula Talc-Free 

Mineral Wear Pressed Powder

This is a finely-milled pressed mineral powder comparable to MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural but with a slightly more matte finish. It's great at keeping my oily skin under control. No matter how much you apply on, it never looks cakey. I love this!

2. NYX Rouge Cream Blush 
in Glow

The NYX Cream Blushes are very pigmented and creamy so a little bit goes a long way. I use this alone to give my cheeks a soft glow from within or pair it with a powder on top and use it as a base Either way, this blush stays put all day even on my oily skin. For $6, I think the quality of it exceeds the price and it's comparable to more expensive ones, like the MAC Creme Blend Blushes.

3. ELF Shimmering Facial Whip 
in Lilac Petal

This is a highlighter that comes in a small squeeze tube. It's a great dupe for the Benefit High Beam. They are both pigmented, similar in texture and give off the same glow. I prefer the small packaging of the ELF Shimmering Facial Whip, however. It's easy to squeeze out the exact amount I need (which is not a lot at all!) and I can just throw it into my makeup bag. Best of all, it's only $1 off the eyeslipsface.com website. What a steal, no?? :) 

 (full review)

4. Vichy Dermablend Skin Concealer

Although I've been trying out other concealers, I found myself coming back to this one.  It's very creamy and and pigmented so it works great for my undereye area. My dark circles stand no chance against this concealer - it's really a dream to use! The Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer is another great concealer similar to this, but I find the texture slightly more drying for me.

 (full review)

5. NYX Concealer in a Jar 
in Beige 

For discolouration and any blemishes on my face, I like to use this concealer because the colour is a perfect match for my NC20-25 skin.

Again, this is very creamy and pigmented. It completely covers my blemishes and doesn't budge all day. It's comparable to the MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer but costs much less for only $5.  

(full review)

6. Rock and Republic Contrived Blush 
in Kinky

This is scary hot pink colour in the pan, but looks great once you put it on. My camera doesn't capture its true colour so I added a picture below for you to see.

Image via: rockandrepublic.com

It's truly a hot pink colour!

I can't get enough of this :D

On the left, I used a light hand and it gives a soft pink colour. On the right, I layered a bit more on to deepen the colour. You can definitely go even darker. The blush is very pigmented and you can layer it on depending on the intensity you want. It's probably the most expensive blush I own but it's HUGE (much bigger than your average blush) so this will last me forever.

7. L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara
in Waterproof

I don't necessarily wear mascara everyday since I don't bother if I'm just going to school. On the days I do wear mascara though, this is my weapon of choice. It holds the curl on my weak lashes, is smudge-proof, lasts all day, and gives me a false lashes effect.  

 I haven't found another mascara better than the L'Oreal Voluminous. A close one is the Covergirl Lashblast, but the stubby wand is harder to work with. I've heard great things about the MUFE Smoky Lash but when I tried it out, it didn't hold the curl for my lashes :(
I really wanted it to work too.. oh well!

I've picked up other mascaras from L'Oreal as you know from my previous haul post. I'm waiting to get a new camera before I do a review because my current camera is not focusing very well anymore. It's sad when your pictures come out blurry :(

8. ELF Studio Line Powder Brush

This is the flat-top powder brush from the ELF Studio Line.

Those of you who have tried this will know what I'm talking about when I say that it's one of the softest powder brushes I've ever used. It cost just $3 but has beat out more expensive brushes I've tried. Its bristles are very dense so it works great for applying powder. I love this brush and have even bought backups ;)

9. ELF Mechanical Eyelash Curler 
in Pink

Another great ELF product I've been loving!

I was using the Shiseido Eyelash Curler prior to this, meant for Asian eyes. The ELF curler is slightly curvier and actually works better for my eyes. 

What makes me love this eyelash curler so much is the large padding that it comes with. Normally with other curlers, I have to be careful because pinching does occur, but with the ELF curler, I've never had any problems with pinching at all! I attribute that to the padding, which lets me curl my lashes quickly without worry. It's awesome!

10. Maybelline Waterproof Liquid Liner

I've tried several liquid liners but this one by far lasts the longest. I've cried with this on during movies and sweated with it on at the gym. It stays put like no other liner I've used before.

Whether you want a very thick or a very thin line, the wand works great. For $7 it's comparable (and even better) than some higher end liners. This is definitely a staple for me!

That's it... 
all 10 of my favourites! 
It's surprising that a lot (actually MOST) of these products happen to be drugstore products. The price can be deceiving sometimes I guess ;)


What are some of your favourite products lately?
If you care to share, I'd love to hear some of yours too!

Until next time,

♥ Anita