ALIXIRS

First empties! ( For the blog)

L'oreal Gentle Makeup Remover Eyes & Lips is my  go-to eye makeup remover. I find that nothing but waterproof mascara holds a curl on my lashes, so an oil-based eye makeup remover is a must. I've probably purchased 5-6 of these over the years. I switched from the Neutrogena makeup remover to this as I found the Neutrogena had a very large spout/opening which meant any time I accidentally knocked it over a lot of product would spill out. This L'oreal one has a very small opening which is much more user-friendly.

The Sana Nameraka Foaming Face Wash Anti-aging version is also a must-have! Foams up beautifully and cleans the face without drying the skin.

My daily SPF : Allie UV Mineral Moist NEO. This 90g baby lasted me well over 6 months with daily use on the face and neck.

A spur of the moment purchase of Balea Body Wash in Pomegranate & Mango purchased purely because of the smell. Very fruity and great scent for a waking up in the morning.

I've purchased the original Sana Nameraka Foaming Facial Cleanser to compare. I don't see a huge difference so far, and both do a great job.

Last is the Tarte Maracuja Oil. I use 3 drops of this added to my moisturizer everyday at night, and it really helps with dry areas. This is a small bottle which came with a holiday set, but I've already repurchased a larger bottle during the VIB sale. 

xoxo,

alixirs

I got this Malin + Goetz Mojito lip balm in an ipsy bag a while back. This is a full sized lip balm at 7g and retails for $12 USD.

The product is not the most moisturizing lip balm, but the squeeze tube makes it very easy to apply on the go without having to dip your fingers into a jar.

By far the best selling point for me personally is the scent: it's slightly minty and mildly lime-like. It's very subtle and not at all overwhelming. Love it!

xoxo,

alixirs

Here's what I hauled from the December $25 off $50 sale at Sephora!

YvesSaintLaurent Le Teint Touche Eclat in B40

Of course, reaching VIB rouge for another year, Sephora reminds you how you've spent way too much money with this VIB Rouge gift.

It's tiny and adorable. A lovely shade of red. Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Creme in So Rouge.

December's Ipsy bag comes in a nifty ( albeit slightly poorly constructed) red quilted bag which I can't decide if I love or hate. In any case, on to the goodies!

This bag came with 5 products:

Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing powder 2.2g

Be a Bombshell eye liner in wild child ( black) .25g

Pacifica Natural Minerals Power of Love Powerful Color Natural Lipstick 2g

Lather Honey Moisture Mask with Propolis extract 14g

Skinn Dimitri James Sugar Lips Polishing scrub 20ml or 0.7oz

The Lather honey moisture mask  is intended to relieve "environmentally-stressed skin". If that's the case then I'm just the person to try this out! The weather in Toronto is usually very cold. Despite an unusually mild winter this year, my skin is still rather dry and chapped. 

Opening up the jar there's a plastic stopper which keeps the product from leaking out.

The product itself is a thick cream and smells like real honey!

Next is the Skinn Sugar Lips. The last lip scrub I tried was from Lush and was their Mint Julep which I adored. This scrub smells like an artificial strawberry scent, which isn't bad, but I definitely prefer the mint-chocolate scent of the Mint Julep by Lush. 

The size of the product is generous and I'm excited to try it out!

Tarte's Smooth Operator finishing powder is a transparent powder which is used to set your makeup.

I was probably the most excited to see the Pacifica lipstick.

The shade is actually a very wearable nudish pink that is very much a My Lips But Better "MLBB" shade on me.

Unfortunately the pigmentation on the eye liner was underwhelming, and with oily lids like mine I expect they'll slide right off.

Overall, I think this month's Ipsy bag's is one of the best so I've received. What do you think?

xoxo,

alixirs

Battle of the liquid liner!

I used to be a huge gel liner wearer and went through 2 tubs of MAC's blacktrack fluidline. Recently, however, more and more companies are making liquid liner, and although it takes a while to get used to it, you really can't beat the convenience of not having to use a separate brush.

Here's a look at 4 of the ones I've tried recently:

From top to bottom:

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner in Black (CAD $29)

Maybelline Master Precise in Black (CAD $~8)

Essence Eye Liner Pen in Waterproof in Black (CAD $~3.50)

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper (CAD $23)

The Stila, Maybelline and Essence all sport a spongy felt tip of various shapes, while the Stila is the lone wolf with a brush tip. The brush tip is much better at getting very very thin lines, but I've also found that it dries out faster at the tip.

Swatches of all four are in the same order as the previous picture (Top to bottom): Stila, Maybelline, Essence, Kat Von D. Stila's was definitely the most black but also rather shiny. Second blackest would probably be the Maybelline, with Kat Von D's being a little lighter.

I wet a tissue and wiped the swatches a few times. As you can see Stila is holding up like a champ and Kat Von D is not too shabby as well. Maybelline totally disappeared with the first wipe, although to be fair there is no claim of being waterproof. Essence, being the most affordable of the bunch, performed honorably but didn't quite live up to its "waterproof" label. 

In fact, trying to remove the swatches afterwards I needed to get out an oil-based eye makeup remover to get the Stila liner off.

I guess you get what you pay for. But if you don't have hooded or very oily eyes, I could easily see the Essence and Maybelline last all day on you -- all you need is to set it with a black eyeshadow. 

I wear the Maybelline and Essence on a daily basis and see a little fading but nothing dramatic. On the other hand, if I know i'm going to be out all day in the heat or for a good old 15-hour investment banking day, then Stila is my go-to. 

As a side note, I've also tried the Physicians formula liquid liner and the Dolly Wink (a Japanese brand) liquid liner which both have brush tips. They're both great alternatives to the Kat Von D liner if you prefer a brush tip over a felt tip.

xoxo,

alixirs