Wednesday, June 22, 2011

French Braid Pigtails Hairstyle


Video Tutorial

Bebexo

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

EOTD: Give Me Gold




EYES:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Maybelline Give Me Gold Quad
Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Eyeliner
Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner
L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara
Lashgrip Adhesive
Fake Lashes (that come in a box of 10 pairs)

LIPS:
NYX round lipstick in Pumpkin Pie


Bebexo

Monday, June 13, 2011

Review & Swatches: Physician's Formula Happy Booster Powder & Blush

Physician's Formula Happy Booster Line
Claims: 
- Ultra-smooth, perfecting powder in a complementary palette of color blends together to even out skin tone with a flawless radiance.
- Multi-reflective pearls provide a soft iridescence to highlight contour and add radiance to cheeks.
- Infused with our Happy Boost Blend, featuring Happy Skin and Euphoryl, natural plant extracts which have been shown to promote a feeling of happiness by mimicking the effect of Endorphins and helping protect the skin from environmental stress.
- The sweet scent of Violet provides a feeling of joy each time you apply.


Pros: 
- Smooth and finely milled.
- Easy to blend.
- Color is buildable for light to medium coverage.
- Looks shimmery in the pan but leaves a nice satin finish on my skin.
- Paraben-free and noncomedogenic (hasn't broken me out)
- Smells nice but I know that not everyone will agree with me. Personally, I like the smell of flowers ;)
- Cute embossed different colored hearts. Something really unique and eye-catching!

Cons: 
- This is quite expensive being that it is a drugstore product.
- Unnecessary sales gimmick. If I'm having a crappy day, I highly doubt that applying this bronzer/blush will "promote feelings happiness" and cheer me up. Unless I get a lot of compliments on how radiant I look, I might change my mind. LOL
- The package is cute, no doubt, but it's way too bulky. I can do without the flimsy brush and the mirror.
- This also claims to be hypoallergenic yet it possesses a strong floral scent? Last time I checked, scent/fragrance is a no-no for hypoallergenic products.


Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder in Bronzer 
Overall: 4 out of 5
Packaging: 3 out of 5 (a little bulky)
Price: $13.95 in the states and $18.97 in Canada! (Wait for the 40% OFF in-store sales)
Size/Weight: 0.4 Oz / 11g
Would you buy this again? Yes

Although this bronzer is shimmery, it's very subtle and not overwhelming. I love to apply this in the hollows of my cheeks and on my temples for a nice bronze glow. This bronzer looks dark in the pan but fear not, it's actually light and buildable. I use the little pink heart in the pan as a highlight because it looks like a pearly cream color on my tanned skin.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush in Natural
Overall: 4 out of 5
Packaging: 3 out of 5 (a little bulky)
Price: $11.95 in the states and $16.97 in Canada! (Wait for the 40% OFF in-store sales)
Size/Weight: 0.24 Oz / 7g
Would you buy this again? Yes

The Happy Booster line consists of two blushes: Rose which is a rosy red color and Natural (pictured above) which has red, pink, and coral hearts. I love this blush because it gives my cheeks a pretty rosy glow. I've seen swatches of Rose and Natural online and they look nearly identical. The only difference is that Natural is a tad lighter which I prefer. I can see this color looking great on light and dark skin tones.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder in Translucent 

Overall: 2 out of 5
Packaging: 3 out of 5 (a little bulky)
Price: $13.95 in the states and $18.97 in Canada! (Wait for the 40% OFF in-store sales)
Size/Weight: 0.4 Oz / 11g
Would you buy this again? No

This is marketed as an all-over translucent face powder but it's way too shimmery to serve that purpose. It's a light pale pink that looks white against my skin tone so this product will be better suited for lighter skin tones. The shimmer particles are bigger than that of the bronzer so it looks more like chunky sparkles. This might be a nice highlighter but against my tanned skin, the silver sparkles make me look frosty. Needless to say, this was my least favourite from the Happy Booster line. Pass!

I gave it 2/5 because it is satin smooth and pigmented.

Swatches above: Translucent, Bronzer, Natural

Compact.
Pressed powder on top, mirror glued underneath, and a fancy brush in the bottom compartment...

This brush looks cute, yeah? But it's scratchy and unforgiving! I tried applying blush with it but the shape of the bristles makes the application streaky and blotchy. Now I use it to clean my keyboards! I'm just so innovative that way you know?

If I could only pick one product out of the three, it would be the Blush in Natural. It's  such a pretty color that looks nice on most skin tones. However, I think that Physician's formula can do without the gimmicky stuff and the faulty brush.

Physician's Formula products are quite expensive in Canada so always wait for the 40% off sales! :)

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Review & Swatches: NYX Rouge Cream Blushes

NYX Rouge Cream Blush

The Claim: "NYX Rouge cream blush offers radiant, long-lasting color in the form of velvety smooth cream. Infused with mineral oils, this blush is creamy in texture and provides a dewy glow for natural, fresh color."

Overall: 4 out of 5
Packaging: 5 out of 5
Price: $4.75 - $6.99 (cheapest I've seen on beautyjoint.com)
Size/Weight: .19 OZ 5.3 g
Would you buy this again? only some shades.

Pros: These cream blushes are buttery smooth, very pigmented, non-sticky, easy to blend, and long lasting. The formula is wet upon application but dries to a matte finish. You could even wear this underneath your desired powder blush to increase the staying power.

Cons: Unfortunately, the main ingredient is mineral oil so this is not something I'd wear everyday. I have normal to dry skin and this hasn't caused me to break out. I'm not sure if this will be good for people with oily skin as it might clog pores.

Hot Pink
Color: Bright Barbie pink. Cool-toned. Matte.
Thoughts: This color is intensely pigmented. You only need to stipple a little on your cheeks to give yourself a bubblegum pink flush. I wore it once and it lasted all day! However, when I tried washing it off, it left a stain on my cheeks (I wore it on top of my moisturizer, sans foundation). This is the only color that left a stain. The others came off with soap and water.

Glow
Color: Rosy pink with a hint of coral. Matte.
Thoughts: Out of all the blushes, glow left the most natural pink flush on my cheeks. This color is also bright so a little bit goes a long way.

Natural
Color: Neutral pale pink. Matte.
Thoughts: Natural, as the name suggests, is quite natural. On my medium olive-toned skin, this color is really subtle and definitely not as bright as the colors above. When I wear this blush, it makes me look kind of pale. I think this is a nice color for fairer skin tones.

Golden
Color: Muted Beige, almost peachy. Golden shimmers.
Thoughts: I was contemplating whether to get this or Boho Chic. I ended up picking Golden because Boho chic had silver shimmers in it which would clash with my warm skin tone. The shimmer in this blush is obvious on my cheeks so if you don't like shimmer, stay away! I love the color when swatched but when blended, all I see are shimmers with a tiny hint of peach. This one would be good if I was going for the beachy bronze makeup look.


Color comparison: Hot Pink and Glow

Color comparison: Natural and Golden

Swatches (once blended, they look more natural)
From left to right: Hot Pink, Glow, Natural, Golden

I recommend applying your cream blushes with a duo fibre brush because they are really pigmented and wet. I used my fingers the first time around and it was a bit messy and blotchy.

Above: Applying NYX cream blush in Natural with my Sigma Duo Fibre Blush Brush F15
 Stipple it on and I blend away!

All in all, I'm quite pleased with these cream blushes and I actually like them better than my NYC Blushable Creme Sticks.  My favourites out of the bunch are Glow and Natural. Have you tried NYX cream blushes? What are your favourite shades? Let me know!

Until later, ciao bellas!

Friday, June 10, 2011

OOTD: Striped Cropped Shirt + Dolce Vita For Target Wedges


Bag: Big Buddha Mia Bag (baghaus.com)
Stripped Shirt: Ross
Tank top - Forever21
Skinny Jeans - Urban Planet
Necklace - Shoeglamm.com


Babe blinked! ehe


Dolce Vita For Target Cork Wedge Sandals



Click to enlarge

I love these! Despite the height (4 inches), these wedges are so lightweight and comfortable! The faux leather is made of a really soft material that doesn't aggravate my pinky toe like most wedge sandals do. I regret not getting another pair in Gold. :(  I got a size 5.5 and they fit me well. These were only $30 but I would have paid double for them. One of my best buys :)

Happy Friday!

Bebexo

Saturday, June 4, 2011

OOTD: Kentucky Derby Inspired Outfit


Sun Hat: Walmart
White Wife Beater: Forever21
Floral Skirt: My friend made it for me ^_^
Beige Satchel: Atseoul.com
Beige Buckle wedges: Atseoul.com
Gold Necklace: Atseoul.com


Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)
xo
Bebexo