LBH October Favourites: Charlotte Tilbury Eyes To Mesmerise versus Nars Eye Paint, John Frieda Colour Deepening Treatment and Shampoo

October is done and dusted and, scary thought, we are marching steadily towards Christmas.  Around this time last year, I was thinking about holiday makeup and obsessing about Nars Eye Paint in Iskandar which is a lovely antique gold.  I noticed that my little pot was nearly out and was about to get another when I heard that Nars, sadly, was no longer cruelty-free.  This is a point of difference that may or may not matter to you but I thought that this was a good opportunity to stop in at the Charlotte Tilbury counter.  Charlotte Tilbury is, thankfully, cruelty-free.  I walked away with this.

Yessssss, a pot of Eyes to Mesmerise in Bette.  Charlotte Tilbury describes it as an amber gold and it does have more of a warm, bronze undertone to it compared to Nars' Iskandar which has more of an olive undertone.  Bette has a mousse-like, whipped, light as air texture to it which allows it to blend like a dream.   I have used it on top of eyeshadow powder and underneath without incident. 

Because it is waterproof, Iskandar has a stiffer consistency and once it is on, baby, it is there to stay.  This is fabulous if you are living in a tropical environment or dealing with a hot humid summer day but you have to work very quickly before it sets and it does crease and crack.  I did find using an eyeliner over Iskandar to be very difficult.  Bette is touted as long wear but not waterproof.  What I love about Bette is that it is so easy to apply and is highly pigmented with hardly any creasing. Basically, it is a "one and done" miracle in a pot.  The Nars pot has a fill of .08 oz and Charlotte Tilbury has a fill of .24 fl oz.  Both Charlotte Tilbury and Francois Nars are luxury brands so this type of comparison is, I think, a bit more of an even comparison than, say, comparing a luxury brand to a drugstore brand.  I think I will be investigating the Charlotte Tilbury line a lot more in the oh-not-so-distant-future.

Next up, is John Frieda's Colour Deepening Shampoo in Brilliant Brunette.  Because I have never dyed my hair before, this is my way of sticking a pinky toe in that pool.  I like that it is a shampoo so I don't really have to go out of my comfort zone or out of my daily routine to play with my hair colour.  

It is supposed to infuse rich, dark tones to natural brunette hair.  The effect is quite subtle.  I notice the change in tone more where the light hits my hair.  The shampoo came bundled with the Colour Deepening Treatment.  The treatment only takes 5 minutes (but is not recommended for gray or blonde hair).  I do love 2 for 1 deals, don't you?  Funnily enough, I found this on an end cap at my local grocery store.  I didn't see it at any of my local pharmacies.  I noticed that the shampoo also came in multi-tonal and blonde highlights formulas.  Have you tried John Frieda before?  If you are interested, keep an eye out for the 2 for 1 bundles as there were only a few left at my grocery store.

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LBH Weekly Roundup: Nars Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeliner, H & M Light and Shade Contour Duo

With the blindness of youth, I never envisaged the day when I would need to worry about fine lines, hooded eyes or the depressing effects of gravity.  It didn't happen overnight (or perhaps it seemed like it did) but I noticed that my favourite eye pencil wasn't performing like it used to.  There was constant smudging and I would look like a raccoon at the end of the day.  Glumly, it dawned on me that it wasn't the fault of the pencil but the fact that my eyelids were losing their battle against time and gravity.  Enter the Nars Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner.

It is supposed to last for 12 hours, be smudge proof and even comes with its own tiny sharpener.  I had assumed that the sharpener was located inside the cap but it is actually at the end of the pencil.  I got the shade Rue Saint Honore which is a deep metallic blue.  I have been wearing it every day for the past week and I will say that there was a learning curve.  Because it is supposedly smudge proof, you have to apply it quickly before it sets.  After it sets, it is almost impossible to build it up without having bits flake off.  It isn't very creamy and I find that it tends to catch and pull on the skin.  In terms of being smudge proof, tiny crumbs do fall off during the day and there is a small amount of smudging but not to the point where I am getting raccoon eyes.  I find that it is best used for tightlining and for subtle definition.  I tried doing a cat eye but didn't have an easy time doing the tail as I just couldn't layer the strokes.  I will continue to use it but am going to keep my eye out for a replacement.  Have you tried the Nars eyeliner?

I went into H & M, eager to use my clothing donation coupons (see my previous post).  I haven't stepped into an H & M in years and now I know why.  The blaring music, miles of inventory and the long lineup at the fitting rooms was really overwhelming.  Desperately, I kept going round and round the store looking for something to buy.  Truly, I felt like I meandering through the seventh circle of Hell.  Finally, as I was ready to give up, I stumbled across their cosmetics section.  Hallelujah!  I didn't know they had a beauty line and was pleased and relieved to pick up their Light and Shade Contour Duo.

I know contouring is all the rage but, until now, it is something that I have never tried.  Thankfully, it comes with an instruction pamphlet, perfect for us newbies.  The compact comes in 3 shades, Light, Medium and Deep.  I chose Medium because I like the highlighter which is pink toned whereas the highlighter in the Light compact is a frosty white.  The compact is a lightweight plastic and so doesn't have the satisfying heft of a more expensive brand.  However, this is H & M, home of fast fashion so the flimsy packaging is to be expected.  At $12.99 CAD, I figured I could try contouring and not have it hurt my wallet.  It is a cream formula so it is easy to blend and build.  I have been using a light hand as I don't want to end up with a scary Kabuki mask.  Are you a fan of contouring?  Any tips or suggestions for this neophyte?

I am going to kick off a 30 Day Wellness Challenge on June 1.  Please join me as I challenge myself to do one small thing a day to improve my overall wellness!

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LBH April Monthly Favourites: L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream, ELF HD Lifting Concealer vs Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer Review

The warm weather arrived, disappeared, arrived then disappeared again.  The upside of the changeable weather meant that I could put off showing my pale, dry legs.  I am not sure if it is the long Canadian winter or the fact that the air in my building is extremely drying but the skin on my legs get really flaky.  I know that the L'Occitane 20% Shea Butter Hand Cream is supposed to be for the hands but it is so deliriously creamy and unctuous that, to me, it is the gold standard for tackling any dry area on the body.

So I was very pleased to receive a L"Occitane giveaway that contained a travel sized tube of the hand cream.  Included was a little pot of L'Occitane Light Comforting Cream with 5% shea butter which I am keen to try out.  I love the pink tweed bag that they came in as it will come in handy for corralling little things in my handbag.  Monsieur surprised me with a full size tube of the hand cream even though I had received one in my stocking this past Christmas.  He knew I had been having a rough time of it lately and also knows how obsessed I am with this cream.  The 150 ml tube will last me an entire year so it really is good value for the money.  I think I am all set for the next couple of years!

My Nars concealer was running low so I picked up an e.l.f HD Lifting Concealer.  I was curious to compare a high end concealer with a drugstore brand.  It might be a bit like comparing apples to oranges but the e.l.f concealer is so affordable that I wanted to give it a whirl.

I got the e.l.f. concealer in the shade "Fair" which is comparable o the Nars Light 2 Vanilla.  It has Vitamin C, green tea and mulberry in it.  I found that the e.l.f. concealer had a lot more slip with an almost oily feel to it.  It takes a while to dry down to a dewy finish as a result.  The benefit to that is that, if you have fine wrinkles in the undereye area, it is less likely to settle into the lines and to crease.  I would say that it is medium coverage as compared to the Nars which is full coverage.  It is buildable, however, if you want full coverage.  The Nars concealer has a more powdery, thick consistency and dries down to a velvet, matte finish.  One of the issues I had with the e.l.f. concealer was that there were only two shades available, Fair and Light.  The Fair has pink tones while the Light has orange tones to it.  I suppose that for the price, the limited selection is to be expected.  So, if you want a wider selection of shades then Nars is the better bet for you.  I wanted to point out that in the photo above, the Nars concealer pictured is the travel sized version.  I wouldn't want you to have a heart attack, thinking that it is such a tiny tube for the cost!  Both wore well over the course of a day.  Yesterday, I had the e.l.f. on for at least 16 hours and it still looked fine.  When all is said and done, I guess picking one over the other is dependent on factors like budget, whether you want a good colour match or have a preference over the texture and finish.  Have you tried any other e.l.f. products?  Do you have any recommendations?

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Happy Valentine's Day: Valentine's Day Makeup and Francois Nars Eye Paint

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day.  I know this day gets a bad rap as being gimmicky and commercial.  Perhaps we should start a movement to rename it Hyyge Day?  Have you heard of "Hyyge"?  It has been sweeping the internet.  A day dedicated to being comfy and cozy and living slowly and intentionally sounds good to me!  

I picked up Nars Eye Paint in Iskandar recently.  It had been sold out at my local Sephora for months.  The Eye Paint line consists of mainly metallic and shimmer finishes and Iskandar, a dark gold, was the only one that was constantly sold out.  I had really wanted it for New Year's Eve as I thought it would add a lovely touch of glamour.  So, when I saw a couple of pots appear on the shelf just in time for Valentine's Day, I swooped one up.  I have had to give up my beloved ink eyeliner as it requires a steady hand, not a hand shaking from pain.  I have been on the lookout for something that would be easier to apply and be longlasting so that even when I am ugly crying, I know that my makeup looks fabulous. Ha! I had tested it out on my hand prior to purchasing it and I can say that once it goes on, it stays on even, amazingly, through a hot shower.

I had read various reviews on the Eye Paint and most of the few negative reviews center around complaints of fallout and that it feels quite "chunky."  I did notice in testing the various shades, that Iskandar seems creamier and easier to apply than the other colours.  Perhaps the formula is slightly different to the others?  I can say that I have not experienced any fallout at all.  I use an ELF small angled brush and am able to apply it very easily.  It is almost like foiled eyeshadow.  A word of warning however, it will show every single wrinkle and crease in your eyelids so I would not recommend plastering this stuff right up to your eyebrows (unless that is the look that you are going for).  Used as a gel eyeliner, in discreet amounts, it draws light to your eye.  Iskandar reads as a subtle antique gold and for me, is entirely appropriate as a modern twist on an every day neutral or to add that touch of soft, romantic glamour to your makeup.  Have you tried Nars Eye Paint in any of the other shades?  I am really keen to try out Ubangi which is a dark metallic navy.

Talk to you soon!  Now go and give a loved one, whether that loved one is of the two or four legged variety, a hug!

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