Review – Annabelle Mineral Cosmetics

I recently received a package from Annabelle of their new mineral line of cosmetics. Over the last two weeks I have been wearing their foundation and bronzer and have had the chance to play with their pigment as well. As someone that is not too familiar with Annabelle, I was very impressed. To be honest, unless I’m looking for a quick liner or gloss I have tended to skip over the Annabelle section of the beauty department. Not any more!

I really like the concept of mineral powders and makeup because it is gentler on sensitive skin (which I have!), free of unnecessary additives and doesnt contain talc. These minerals went on very light and smooth. The texture was silky and the foundation provided a nice light coverage. I used a denser brush with the foundation to give more concentrated coverage on areas that needed it (blemishes, under the eyes) and the Annabelle powder brush over the rest of my face.

I dont usually wear mineral foundations personally because I dont like the mess. Loose powders can go everywhere and arent very portable. What I liked about the Annabelle minerals was that they didnt come through the top of the dispenser in large amounts; I could shake the container once and get enough on the lide to cover my face and not end up with a poof of powder everywhere whenever I opened the container. I think I still prefer a pressed powder for convenience, but these worked well for what they were.

Photo credit: Annabelle Cosmetics

I also really liked the bronzer. If you are looking for a natural glow this works great! It is not sparkly or pearlized in any way so you can dust over your entire face and not end up a glittery mess. I used over my face and neck and then went back over my cheeks for some added colour.

Photo Credit: Annabelle Cosmetics

The pigment I tried was their purple (on FOTD below) in Violet Vibe. The intensity of the colour was alright. Not the most concentrated pigment I’ve used (like MAC back in the old days), but it blended well and held up throughout the day. I found the container (there is only one small hole at the top of the jar) a little wonky to use, but not enough to deter me from purchasing the product in future.

Photo Credit: Annabelle Cosmetics

Again, as someone that doesnt normally use a lot of Annabelle products, I was happily surprised and impressed. I look forward to trying and reviewing their lip plumping gloss!

Below is a look I did using the mineral products as well as their newest bronzer – the Zebra Bronzing Pressed Powder (love it!) which was also sent to me by Annabelle. Enjoy!

Products Used:
Annabelle Barely Beige Minerals Foundation
Annabelle Minerals Powder Bronzer in Terra over entire face
Annabelle Zebra Bronzing Pressed Powder on cheeks
Annabelle Minerals Pigment Dust in Violet Vibe as eye liner
Annabelle Smudgeliner in Ohmygoth! on lower inner rim only
Marcelle Volume Precision Mascara

Full Face

Violet Vibe pigment around eyes & black Smudgeliner on lower rim

Marcelle Mascara and Annabelle Zebra Bronzer

xoxo,

dg

Note: All the products in this review were provided to me by Marcelle Group. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and not effected in any way.

FOTD – Maybelline Eyestudio

I recently received the Maybelline Eye Studio Kit from Matchstick to try out. Instead of try it alone, I had a bunch of other bloggers over to my house last Friday to play with the product! A girls night of makeup and bbq-ing = awesomeness. In attendance were Farah (FacesByFarah), Marie (Karmacake),  Sumaya (Sumaya Papaya) from Matchstick, and Nat (Anastasia Tubanos). I provided the location, but these ladies definitely provided the fun (and the food!).

So apparently we had too much fun with bbq, dessert and makeup because I didnt take any pictures! BUT I did try out the makeup a couple days later on myself and came up with the  look below. I used the the Colour Plush Silk Shadow in “Give Me Gold” with the Colour Pearls Marbleized Eyeshadow in “Khaki Craze”. I lined my eyes with the brown in the Silk Shadow on top and the Khaki Craze green on the bottom and finished with the XXL Pro Curl Washable Eyeshadow.

Hope you like it!

“Give Me Gold” and “Khaki Craze”

(I didnt end up using the liner)

FIRST STEP

MIDDLE WITH DARKER COLOUR

FINAL EYE W LINER BEFORE MASCARA

 FINAL LOOK

 xoxo,

dg

Qwik Post – product of the day: MAC fluidline

I’d just like to take a moment and say that it is not always about how much makeup you have on, but the way it is used.

Today I was super late for work (ok – I slept in and ignored my alarm) and so I didnt have time for my usual shadow. Instead I put some MAC fluid line on my top lashline, some on the bottom inner rim, some brown liner on the bottom line and a couple coats of mascara. Voila – makeup for the day!

(PS – This photo is taken with my terrible bb camera at work)

The colour I used is a limited edition (will have to find the name) and is bright blue, which is one of the keys to why this look works. A bold statement of colour with minimal everything else can be a great way to feature one part of your face or another.

xoxo
-dg

FOTD

Quick pictures of my makeup this morning. I tried the new MAC shadow I got on the weekend. It’s a limited edition called Banshee (lower right shadow in the pic below). Very glittery pink dusk kind of colour.

I used the MAC paint Stilife on the lower lid to prep and a very small amount of Club on the outer corner. I used the white loose mineral powder from E.L.F for the highlight and brow bone.

Cheeks are mineralize skinfinish in Sunny by Nature from MAC and lips are Hue.

Eyeliner is the MAC black liquid liner and the mascara is Benefit Bad Gal mascara with Maybeline Lash Stiletto over top.

PS. Today was “picture day” at my office and I totally forgot! I wore a hat because I didnt want to do my hair (not good) and then I had to try to fix my hair for the pics… egh. Below are some of the unprocessed test shots the photographer took while she was setting the lights. You can see more of Max’s work at: http://www.maxwellander.com/

Stay Beautiful!

Xoxo

- dg