COLOURPOP CREME GEL EYELINERS | REVIEW

Colourpop is constantly pumping out m products. I feel like every few weeks they have something new on their site. I purchased their liners as soon as they released and they've already come out with a new line since. I went with a matte and metallic shade in each format to test them out before placing a huge order. They offer a Creme Gel Colour ($6) which is in a pot and a Creme Gel Liner ($5) retractable eyeliner pencil version of every shade so you're able to buy whatever your preference is. I was pleased to find that the liners had the same feeling as a classic gel liner rather than the spongy feel of their Super Shock products. They currently offer 24 shades of which 3 (Boots, Piggy Bank and Puppy) are not recommended for the eye area. All liners are cruelty-free but four of the shades (Call Me, Best O, No Shame and DTLA) are not vegan.

Sephora Draw The Line | Review

I get so excited every year when new holiday kits start coming out.  There's usually quite a few brands I keep an eye on around this time, but nothing gets me quite as excited as the "Sephora Favorites." These offer the most popular products from high-end brands at a huge discount. It's rare that any other brand puts out kits with a better bang for your buck. I went on the website to repurchase my all time favourite liner Stila's Smudge Stick (as seen in my Top 5 Makeup Products) which retails for $22 but came across the Draw The Line sampler which included the same full-sized liner along with 5 other products for only $8 more, so I decided to give that a go instead. Aside from the Stila liner, the only other product I had tried was the Urban Decay liner so I was excited to play with some new products. There's not much variety with one brown, one purple and four black liners but it is practical. The kit contains 3 full size and 3 deluxe size products and retails for $30 with an estimated $88 value.

Elizavecca Milky Piggy Carbonated Bubble Clay Mask | Review

I've never been more excited to try out a mask than I was for this one. I've seen photos of this floating around the internet for awhile because of it's odd foaming qualities, I believe Elizavecca is a Korean brand so the majority of packing is also in Korean. It's a clay mask with charcoal so it's meant to deep clean the skin while the carbonated bubbles gently exfoliate leaving your skin glowing. The prices varies by retailer but you can get it for $11 from MemeBox (Buy here). It's unlike any clay or charcoal mask I've ever seen before because it bubbles up on the skin.

UDXGWEN STEFANI EYESHADOW PALETTE | REVIEW

Growing up I was a big fan of Gwen Stefani. I had always loved No Doubt but when she broke off to do her solo album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." I became obsessed. I only wore G perfume and rocked my Harajuku Lovers brand purse and high tops on the regular. I've since come to realize how odd her whole Harajuku phase was and in particular her song "Harajuku Girls." Needless to say, my love for her has faded. I do love her style though and the packing of the line is straight out of my dreams. The palette was designed by Gwen Stefani and the colours are what she actually wears. This is a 15 shadow palette that retails $58 available at Ulta, Sephora and Macy's. 12 out of the 15 shades are exclusive to this palette. She usually keeps her makeup pretty neutral with a bold red lip and her line delivers just that. Most of the items seem to really only cater to someone with Gwen's skintone. The blushes are very fair with a few exceptions, some shadows may only show up on light skin tones and the brow box only comes in her blonde shade. I really think this collection works for those with fair to light medium skintones. Everyone else seems to be out of luck. I'm ghostly so I figured this would be the palette made for me, but after having it for almost a month I have a lot of mixed feelings.

NYX HAUL

NYX is one of my all time favourite brands. They have such a vast array of products and are surprisingly high quality especially for the price. If I could only use one brand for the rest of my life, they would be it.  NYX is one of those brands that always has new products coming out, so a lot of releases are slip from my mind and others are so popular they're hard to come by (I'm looking at you Liquid Suede Cream Lipsticks). My collection has so much from this brand already but given how good and affordable their products are, more is always welcome.

KAT VON D LOLITA LIP DUO | REVIEW

I have lusted after Kat Von D's Lolita Everlasting liquid lipstick for awhile now, but there's been so many issues with production that I became weary of what colour I would end up with. So far there's been three formulations and a lot of differing opinions on which should be the true Lolita. Kat Von D was very smart to put out a duo incorporating two popular formulations. As of right now only Lolita is available to purchase in the full size, but Lolita II is said to be releasing in full at some point. This is a limited edition set selling for $19.50 which is only $0.50 less than a full size Everlasting Liquid Lipstick. It was originally only being sold on Sephora online, but has since been removed. It can now be purchased from the Kat Von D Beauty website or in stores at Sephora as of 11/06/15.  Each lipstick is 0.10 oz, about half of the full size.

BEGINNING MAKEUP REHAB

At the start of the new year I set a goal for myself to cut back on consumerism. In early December I purchased a new vanity as my makeup collection had outgrown my set up at the time. By the end of the month the even the new organization system couldn't accommodate it. That's when I realized how out of control my collection was. It was rare for me to go to the store without coming back with a new product to test. Since early High School, I have been sent products to test from brands in exchange for review. I've also had a plethora of subscription boxes over time which all adds up. I love reviewing which is why I've been so drawn to the excess. Repurchasing makeup is rare for me because even if I love something, I feel the need to try a new product so I have more in my arsenal of comparisons. Items like eyeshadow and lipstick make sense for me to have a wide variety of, as my look varies from day to day. Foundation and other base products are a lot less justifiable. I had about 25 bottles of foundation sitting in my drawer at the start of the new year. I only liked about 5 of them and the other 20 just sat there. I knew I needed to make a change. I've been watching beauty gurus since 2006 and I feel like I've bought into the youtube mentality too much. I'm discovering this more is more mantra is deeply flawed. Having a ton of products is not better than having a select few you love. This may seem quite obvious to some, but to those of us with a stack of palettes all with the same shades it may be a bit harder to recognize. I'm not trying to insinuate that this makeup "addiction" is as serious as subsistence abuse, but the name of this potential series is pulled from a subreddit I've been frequenting throughout this process. I felt the need to clarify that.

MORPHE 35O PALETTE | REVIEW

I'm a big fan of Morphe Brushes. I own a few of their vegan brush sets and they have ended up being some of my most loved brushes ever. This was my first time trying out their eyeshadows; which have been raved about all over Instagram. I admit, I am very skeptical whenever I see every beauty blogger post about a product at once. That almost always means they had it sent to them by the company and are being compensated. I take no issue with that as long as the reviews are honest. This palette was the first to really get my blood pumping. I wear orange and red shades about as much as I do neutrals so when I see a palette with those colours as the focus I get excited. If you're thinking about ordering from them be forewarned that their shipping is pretty horrible and what you want will most never be in stock. I waited with coupon codes already applied for this to come back in stock in the hopes of getting the earliest shipment, which would still take two weeks to get to me despite high shipping costs (about $9). My order was completed only one minute after it went live, but alas, I still had to wait a month to receive it. Previous orders have still taken weeks without a big release so I tend to wait until they're Hautelook. I end up waiting just as long for shipping but at least they're at a discounted rate.

NYX Brow Products | Review

I've been using NYX products since they first became available in my area so many years ago. I remember when I dyed my hair black in high school. After I was left looking in horror at my blonde brows in the mirror. At a distance you could not tell that I had any brow hair at all. That's when I learned how crucial brows were to the overall look of your face. Back then no one filled them in, which is nothing like now. I feel like people have only started paying attention to their importance in the past few years. None the less, I ran off to Ulta to pick up my first ever brow product, NYX Brow Cake Powder. It worked well enough and was a good price; an absolute must for someone who changed their hair on a monthly basis. I believe I have tried every brow product NYX has come out with to date, although I no longer have them all on hand.

Colourpop Ultra Matte Lips | Review

Colourpop is one of those weird brands that if you're into the online beauty community everyone knows about it, but the general population has never heard of it. I have super mixed feelings towards the brand. They came into existence, sent every beauty blogger on the planet their products and suddenly blew up. When I first tried their products I made a video about them (watch here) and have since ordered a few more times but my feelings towards their super shock shadows and "lippie" products remain the same. Since I've had decent luck with their lip products I was excited for their liquid lipstick release. I was on the website as they released but was still unable to get a hold of them as their site kept crashing, thus I had to wait for their re-release in August. One thing you need to understand before ordering, their shipping sucks. Despite them being based in LA they take at least 2 weeks to ship to me every single time I've ordered and even longer if there's been a new release. They are cruelty free and most of their products are vegan (list of non-vegan items here) so that's a huge selling point to me.

ZOEVA COMPLETE ROSE GOLD BRUSH SET | REVIEW

This year I got an amazing albeit unexpected gift from my sister. She had searched through my instagram looking for Christmas ideas because as I have learned, I am a disaster to get gifts for. She came across a post I made over a year ago about a Zoeva brush set and overtly checked my collection to ensure I had yet to purchase them. My eye had been on the rose gold eye set but she went beyond that and got me the complete volume 1 set. The set is a mix of synthetic taklon hair and natural bristles.  These are my first ever natural hair brushes, as I try look for vegan alternatives, so I have little to compare them to. The set as a whole is diverse and for my first week with them I challenged myself to only use these brushes along side a spoolie because I can't do my brows without. I must say it was a massive success. Although these are high end, I do believe they are worth the investment. If you want high quality staples in your collection I think Zoeva is a good place to start.