It looks like kami accidentally set our intro post to her queue and forgot about it, so weâre making the rounds again.
Weâre still here, but I (kami) havenât bought any makeup in a while. However, I have bought some skincare products which Iâll be reviewing this week.
Weâd love to have any user-submitted reviews too, since our pockets only go so deep -- if thereâs a product you loved, hated, or found âmehâ, let us know!
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Despite what the title of this post says, I donât actually want to pit Tarte and Too Faced together.
However.
There is a however.
You know I reviewed the cult favourite Better Than Sex mascara (Too Faced) and was left disappointed. I usually try to be fair in my product reviews, especially if I think there may have been influencing factors that affect how well it works. If I wear a matte lipstick and it dries out my lips and I didnât moisturize them first, itâs not exactly fair to blame the product for something I should reasonably be expected to know.
So, I have two Too Faced products: the Better Than Sex mascara, and Iâve been using their Bulletproof Brows pomade. And honestly? I donât like either of them.
This disappoints me because I think Too Faced have some really good products--and compared to Tarte, their shade range for the Born This Way foundation is far better variety than Tarteâs foundation, which frankly, suck in terms of shade range. I expect them to do better especially in 2018 and they have so far not delivered.
But with that in mind I decided to try the Tarte Amazonian clay brow mousse and âGiftedâ mascara, and in all honesty I like them so much better. The mascara gives me a nice, natural volume, which is my preference as I donât wear false lashes. The brow mousse applies really easily, whereas the Bulletproof Brows pomade dried out really quickly and was difficult to apply even with the brush.
If youâre trying to decide in between the two, Iâd recommend the Tarte mascara and brow mousse over the Too Faced. Of course you can try other cult favourites, such as the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow pomade, which comes recommended by Kami.
Of course, you know both of us are huge Fenty Beauty hoes. If Rihanna came out with a mascara and brow pomade, weâd probably be wearing nothing else. But so far, my personal go to now is this mascara and brow mousse. Itâs disappointing to spend money on a product only to find itâs not what you expected or hoped, but it does give you the opportunity to try it and pass on the knowledge.
If anyoneâs wondering, the Sportsgirl Pretty As A Peach eyeshadow palette is a dupe for the Too Faced Sweet Peach eyeshadow palette.
Thereâs a few reviews on Youtube about it, and I compared them side by side today. The colours are almost exactly the same.
Iâve previously reviewed another peach palette from Sportsgirl and was impressed by the quality and pigmentation of their eyeshadows. I assume this palette will be of the same quality, but I will let you know if it is.
Designation: Designer
Price: $$
Where to Buy: Sephora
Reviewer: Peyton
Rating: 4 / 5
I. Love. Samples.Â
IÂ mean, who doesn't? When you want to spend money on a product, you should have the opportunity to try before you buy, and this goes double for expensive products. So when I saw Tarte (or is it tarte?) had a miniature sized set of some of their skincare products, I was all over that.
The Pamper & Prep Makeup Ready set contains three travel-sized items:
Rainforest of the Sea(tm) 'Drink of H20' hydrating boost moisturizer
Deluxe maracuja 'c-brighter' eye treatment
Deluxe maracuja oil
The packaging was, as you can see, fairly simple to open--a cardboard box and a plastic mould that allows the products to pop out easily. Above is a true-to-life size.
Considering the price of most tarte products, I thought it was decent enough value for money. I do think there should have been more product provided in the eye cream and moisturizer, especially when compared to the facial oil, so I'm taking a point off for that.
Maracuja Oil: This came in a decent sized bottle, even in mini. I would consider this probably the best value for money. I still have half the bottle left and the other products are almost gone.
I don't think I would buy it full-sized, but I would consider buying it again in a mini version.Â
You only need 2 - 3 drops for your entire face. It smells nice and blends nicely, though if you're very oil prone I would recommend only using it overnight for a bit of skin hydration. I found the dropper wand a little awkward to use for its size, but otherwise no other problems.Â
C-Brighter Eye Cream: It came in a tiny, tiny little jar, barely wider than my finger. You don't need to lay it on thick, but after a couple weeks of daily use, it's almost gone.
Product-wise, I didn't see any noticeable difference in reducing dark circles or eyebags. I wouldn't buy a full size version personally. I don't think it's a bad product, it just didn't work for me.
Drink of H20 Moisturizer: This was probably my favourite. I wish there was a little bit more in the product, but like all good moisturizers you don't need a ton.
The product is not fragrance-free. I didn't love the smell, but it wasn't full of chemicals and it wasn't off-putting, so I wouldn't consider it too detrimental.
Would I buy a full size version of this? Yeah, absolutely. I'm holding off as I'm trying to get a hold of the famous Glow Recipe watermelon products, though.
Did they work? Yeah, I think so, for the most part. I didn't see any visible difference while using the eye cream, but I felt like the facial oil and the moisturizer was nice and hydrated my skin well.
Final Thoughts:
I think this is a nice little set if you want to try out some tarte skincare products but don't want to drop a lot of money on something you could end up not enjoying. For what it is the price is decent, although I wish there was a bit more product in the eye treatment and moisturizer.
I would only buy the full-sized version of 1/3 products but that's more to do with my personal preference.
Should you buy? If you have some funds to spare and want a little taste of a designer product, absolutely.
Rating: 4 / 5
Disclaimer: I received no compensation, financial or otherwise, for this review. I am not associated with this product or this company in any fashion.
I learn new things every day. For example, did you know Drew Barrymore has her own beauty line? Itâs called Flower Beauty and you can check it out here.
My first impressions verdict is itâs affordable in comparison to a lot of other brands, and some of the lip products look nice, but theyâre somewhat lacking in the range of shades for their foundation and concealer.
Donât worry, I wasnât paid to advertise this. Just came across it and thought some of you might like to check it out.
As for the lack of shade diversity, Kami and I would love to source some affordable brands that cater to a wider range of shades, and most importantly, dark skin tones. Weâll be working on that in the coming days.
- Peyton
If you use these products or have a favourite, tell us!
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Argan Oil â good for everyone; high in Vit E, great for helping heal scars, eczema, and dry scalp. Oleic acid helps regulate sebum production, and linoleic acid promotes healthy skin turnover, which can be good for acne control.
Avocado Oil â intense hydration; lots of fats and fatty acids; may be too hydrating for certain skin types
Castor Oil â promotes hair growth
Chamomile Oil â Sensitive skin; soothes redness and irritation
Coconut Oil â very moisturizing; however itâs comedogenic so it works well for the body, but may not be good for the face (but if it works for you, go for it!)
Jojoba Oil â all skin types; mimics natural sebum so itâs a good balancer for all sin types
Rosehip Oil â skin discolouration & scarring; also good for helping combat environmental stressors like dry air and wind; improve skin elasticity, boost skin cell regeneration,
Tea Tree Oil â acne (but NEEDS to be diluted if you have 100% tea tree oil)
Grapeseed Oil â oily skin & acne; help regulate oil production while keeping skin moisturized; also has anti-aging & skin-brightening Vit C
Maracuja Oil â anti-inflammatory; brightening (has lots of Vit C); sun damage, discoloration, spots, and fine lines; also said to help with anxiety, insomnia and stress?
Marula Oil â irritated skin; v. soothing & hydrating; high in oleic acid; high in anti-oxidants;
Sweet Almond Oil â great for sensitive & dry skin
Less Common
Dilo Oil (found by Kate Sommerville); good for firming
Black Currant Oil â skin that needs repair; anti-inflammatory; even good for eczema
Camellia Oil â Lightweight hydration; absorbs quickly; great for sensitive skin
Pomegranate Oil Ââ anti-inflammatory; reduces redness; brightens skin; packed with Vit A, D, E, & K; goof for combination skin
Hemp Seed â light moisture; good for dry, aging skin
Pumpkin Seed Oil â blemish prone skin
Evening Primrose Oil â soothing & anti-inflammatory; great for sensitive skin
Drops and Primers Out the Wazoo: Necessity or Not?
I don't know about you, but I feel like the last few years have seen a lot of new makeup products flooding the market.
Maybe it's just me, given that I grew up believing there were only six types of makeup product: eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara, foundation, bronzer and lipstick. I mean, Iâm nearly thirty and Iâve only just started contouring. Iâve only been wearing primer for two years!
Please keep in mind this is an opinion post. Not everyone will agree with me, and thatâs totally okay! Discussion is fine if you keep it civil.
Onto the post!
Disclaimer: I am not a licensed professional. I cannot provide personalized advice on which products are best for your skin. I also donât have an insiderâs view on makeup artistry, and am approaching it from a laypersonâs perspective.
Every time I wander into Mecca or Sephora it seems like I see new types of product 'add-ons' every time.Â
(By add-ons I mean extra things makeup companies are selling us, beyond what I would personally consider a feasible product).
Face primer? On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = you don't need this and 10 = it's an absolute necessity) I'd say it's about a 5. It's good if you want more wear out of your foundation, but let's be honest: you're not going to die without it.
But do you absolutely NEED a separate eye primer, lip primer, AND a lash primer?
Eyebrow products? Great, whether you prefer pomades, powders, pencils or tinted gels. But do you really NEED eyebrow wax, AND clear eyebrow gel?
Highlighter? Love it. But do you really NEED brow highlighters and illuminators? Will you die without unicorn or radiance drops?
Concealer? I'd call it important for most. But do you NEED a separate under-eye concealer?
I mean, do you REALLY need it?
My opinion is no, you donât.
Beauty brands (and the stores they're stocked in), at the end of the day, are businesses--so of course they're going to sell these products to you.Â
If you ask someone who works at Sephora or Mecca or Ulta, or even CVS or Priceline, if they recommend a particular type of product, of course they're going to recommend it. Often theyâre required to push products as part of their job, and thereâs no criticism meant in that--we all have job requirements. But considering a lot of these products are $20 - $50 a pop, it all adds up to a hefty price-tag--and thatâs even if you just buy drugstore! For someone who loves high-end beauty products, it can be quite expensive.
Why not invest in something you can use on multiple areas on your face? You can mix a liquid highlighter in with your foundation, use it on your cheeks, collarbones, eyes and blend onto your brow bone. You can use all over face primer with a little extra on your eyes and lips. You can get good quality mascara that conditions your lashes as well as providing extra length and volume.
You donât have to have all these extra products; companies sell these as staples because they want you to buy their stuff. Choose quality over quantity.
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If it's not too much to ask, would you be willing to do a post on contouring that is not eurocentric? It's hard to find content like that and I would be very grateful :) But if not, I understand
Hi! Kami wrote a post recently about contouring, which you may be interested in. Please let me know if you wanted us to make a post about a different topic or if you had something specific in mind, and Iâll see what I can do :)
Designation: Designer
Price: $$
Where to Buy: Sephora, Ulta, Mecca (Australia)
Reviewer:Â Peyton
Rating: 2 / 5
Photo Credit: Too Faced
I want to start by saying I generally enjoy Too Faced as a brand. I have a few of their products now, and their Born This Way foundation has been my saving grace as my pale, neutral-toned skin finally has a foundation that matches. I also want to specify that I tried the miniature version of this mascara. This may make a difference compared to the full size product, it may not.
So Iâve been on a high-end beauty kick lately and not satisfied with my current mascara, and thought Iâd try the Better Than Sex mascara from Too Faced, given itâs a cult favourite.
My verdict? Iâm disappointed, and Iâll tell you why under the cut.
The packaging is fine; it came in a cardboard box and didnât require a lot of effort to remove. The mascara wand itself is short, which may make it difficult for people with fine motor issues. I donât believe this is an issue with the full sized product.
The product itself went on fine. It appears a little clumpy, but the wand picks up a lot of the product and application is generally smooth.
My issues are as follows:
1. It doesnât deliver what it says on the package; that is, it doesnât lengthen, thicken and curl lashes after one coat. The brand website does recommend three coats.
2. It isnât long-wearing. My mascara had worn off my lashes after about four to five hours, leaving me with smudges under my eyes.
3. The product irritated my eyes; enough to make them water and sting quite badly. This likely didnât help with the wear, though I have read some reviews that note the smudging is an issue with this product.
On the plus side, it was easy enough to remove--my irritated eyes had already removed most of it, and a makeup wipe got rid of the rest.
Final Thoughts: Iâm disappointed and I wouldnât buy this mascara again. No mascara has ever irritated my eyes like this, and it doesnât deliver what it claims to. I like Too Faced, but Iâm not impressed with this product.
Rating: 2 / 5
Disclaimer: I received no compensation, financial or otherwise, for this review. I am not associated with this product or this company in any fashion.Â
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be invited to a baking class at Mecca Maxima.Â
For those of you who donât know, Mecca is a high-end beauty store located across Australia, and itâs where I get my faves. And for those of you who donât know, baking refers to setting your concealer with powder. Not making pastries.
Iâm better at working with pastry than with powder, tbh, but I gave it a good go and got a decent looking face out of it. I did notice while applying the test foundation they gave me (Urban Decayâs Naked Skin; I was too white for the other ones đ) that the skin around my T-zone was looking pretty dry and it unfortunately made my foundation cake a bit, no matter how well I set it.
Remember this post I made on skincare? I mentioned you can get away with a four-step skin routine. I stand by that, but I would add that exfoliating occasionally helps you to get rid of dead skin cells, and you should do it at least once a week.
Have no fear, though. You donât have to buy an extra product; you can make your own exfoliating face scrubs with a few simple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
Disclaimer: I am not a licensed professional and cannot give you personalized advice on which scrub is the best for your skin.
 A really, really basic recipe is for a sugar face scrub: 1 tsp granulated sugar (white sugar or brown sugar works), 1 - 2 drops of water and optionally, 1 -2 drops of an oil like lemon, lavender or orange oil. Mix it all together, rub it in (gently) and rinse off, then pat dry. Follow up with your normal skin routine.
Another one, which Iâm about to do, is a coconut oil and sugar scrub: 1 tbsp coconut oil and 2tbsp sugar. Iâm also adding a couple drops of the maracuja oil I got in the Tarte Pamper and Prep set.
If youâre feeling a bit fancier, perhaps try this lemon and sugar scrub. Or this oats and oil scrub. Or this coffee scrub.
Basically, you donât have to spend money on an exfoliator when you can whip up something at home. Even if you donât have coconut oil (understandable, as itâs somewhat pricey nowadays), you can buy oats and sugar in most places for less than a dollar.
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Preface: This is not a condemnation of anyone that uses acrylic nails. There are some aspects of acrylic nails that are tied deeply with Black American culture, in particular the misogynoir that black women face with acrylic nails being considered âtrashyâ or âghettoâ. I highly recommend any non-black readers to read through this article from Bitch Media outlining the history of acrylics and appropriation, since I am not black and it is not my place to lecture on this.
This post is intended as a personal anecdote on my own usage of acrylic nails, why I stopped getting them, and how they have benefitted my own personal nail health; my hope for this post is to provide some insight on these specific topics only to others who may have similar concerns about their acrylics usage, rather than acrylics usage as a whole.
I am a nail biter. I donât know when I started, but Iâm told that itâs been since I was a toddler. To this day, I still find myself gravitating towards chewing and biting my nails in times of stress.
In 2015 I started getting my nails done once a month. I wanted to stop biting on my nails so much, so I figured Iâd get acrylic nails. Theyâre beautiful, and the acrylic is impossible to bite through.
It was pretty nice, honestly, and while I didnât wholly stop biting my nails, I did allow them to grow.
One could make the assumption what âcruelty-freeâ means in general, especially as the term evokes the image of the makeup industryâs convoluted (and sometimes required) practice of animal testing. But what do we mean when we say a brand is cruelty-free?
When our blog says a brand is cruelty-free, this means:
The brand itself does not undertake animal testing on any of their products
As you can imagine, this does not necessarily cover brands that are owned by companies that do test on animals (e.g. LâOreal). It also does not mean the brandâs products are 100% vegan or free of harmful chemicals.
One personâs definition of cruelty-free could encompass products that are totally free of any animal products AND tested on animals, AND not associated with companies who do animal testing, or it could mean only products that are not tested on animals. Thus I recommend doing your own research on cruelty-free products before buying. I recommend checking out Cruelty Free Kitty as they have an extensive list of brands that do test on animals.
