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

Mini makeup rant and ELF/MAC review

So it just so happens that the E.L.F makeup I ordered and the E.L.F makeup they sent me to review arrived 4 days apart. Thus, two E.L.F reviews one after the other. Enjoy!

Mac Studio Fix Mascara – Pretty Good

MAC Studio Fix Lash Review

$15.50

Available online or in stores

http://www.maccosmetics.ca/

I was planning on taking before and after photos of my lashes with this mascara, but the boyfriend forgot our camera at his friends house. Ugh. Boys.

Anywho, I will take photos once I get access to the camera again. New ELF review to follow too.


Now for the review part of this post… In general, I DO NOT like MAC mascaras. In fact I’ve almost boycotted them over the last few years becaue I hated them so much. I found their thicker formulas goopy and clumpy and their regular formulas useless. If Im going to spend more than drugstore prices on a mascara, then I want it to be super-fabulous AND do my dishes.


So, you can imagine my hesitation in buying the new Studio Fix Mascara from MAC. I heard a lot of buz about this mascara and other makeup artists really liked it so I figured “what the hey”.


My verdict: I like it!


It has a plastic tooth brush as opposed to bristles, which usually turns me off because I cant get the same volume I can with a traditonal brush, but this mascara didnt do that. It gave good coverage, good volume, and good seperation because of the brush type. Not bad. The brush isnt tapered like my fave Maybeline Last Stiletto, but it is a thin enough brush that you can still get the bottom lashes and the inner corners without making a mess.


Although I dont think I will ever become a full MAC mascara convert, I am extremely happy I gave this one a chance. I will try more MAC mascaras in the future, but I’ll never leave my tried and true staples; Maybeline and L’Oreal!

xoxo
dg