Makeup Review: Star Crushed Minerals Shimmer Eyeshadows

While going through Instagram one night, as I'm sure most of do to kill time hehe, I happened to find the page for Star Crushed Minerals. From what I saw I just had to visit their site, and found amazing loose mineral eyeshadows in colours that are just out of this world! 

I bought 12 shadows to start with, the decision was so difficult! Lol! I loved most of the shadows, if not all...okay fine I love them all and plan to purchase all of them slowly, hehehe. I did only purchase the eyeshadow in the Shimmer collection, I will do more reviews as I purchase. There's also Fluorescent Pigments, Glitter Adhesive, Metallic Eyeshadows,  Mineral Glitters, Halo Glitters, Matte Eyeshadows, Mineral Foundations, Starbright Highlighters & Blushes. Every product looks amazing :)

Star Crushed Minerals Shimmer Eyeshadows

These shimmer eye shadows are soft, smooth & finely milled. On the site it said its milled by hand :) and can be worn as an eyeliner as well. You can apply this wet or dry. If wet, its recommended that you do not dip a wet brush straight into the pot to avoid bacteria growth, instead please tap some product onto the lid and then use a wet brush or add liquid to that. These shadows come in a pot with a sifter on it to prevent pigments from flying everywhere when opened. Due to that, I was unable to show the actual shadow powders, but if you would like a better look to each of them, go to their website listed bellow and go under 'Shimmer Eyeshadow' and find the colours by name. Fancy imaginative names I must say! The pictures there are much better & will give you an amazing glimpse of each :)

Star Crushed Minerals Shimmer Eyeshadows

Colours I have so far. Descriptions as listed on website. Left to Right. First Row: "Twilight Blue" true blue with silver undertones. "Blue Iris" bright semi opaque colour with gold shimmer throughout, soft  gold undertone. "Electric Blue Shimmer" opaque bright blue with slight blue shimmer. "Royal Blue" semi opaque blue color with metallic blue shimmer. "Darkest Night Shimmer" blue/black opaque colour with true blue shimmer. Second Row: "Violet Birds Nest" opaque dark brown with violet blue interference. "Purple People Eater" deep purple with purple interference. "Purple Dream" purple/gray with beige/gold shift. "Black Emerald" semi opaque colour with green/black undertones. "Black Sapphire" semi opaque shimmery blue/black. Third Row: "Black Amethyst" deep purple with black undertones, deep violet shimmer & violet sparkles. "Midnight Blue" darkest blue with violet blue shimmer.
As you can see, I bought predominantly blues and purples. There's every colour imaginable on this site :) and shades & hues you probably never thought of !

I found that these shimmer eyeshadows blend beautifully, you can sheer it out by blending a lot & applying a little bit or build up the colour by packing it on. The colours are true to the pictures online, and show up on the eye exquisitely. Do use a eyeshadow primer of your choice to make it last longer & avoid creasing like with any other eyeshadows out there :)

All Star Crushed Mineral eyeshadows are paraben, sulfate, petrochemical, talc, cornstarch, bismuth oxychloride, fragrance, chemical & preservative free! This is a huge bonus & for me, this earns points. For all skin types*

I really recommend anyone who's into mineral products, or just anyone who wants products of fabulous quality to try these out!! 

These come in 2.5grams for $10.00, 1gram for $5.00  or 0.5 grams for $2.50  www.starcrushedminerals.com

I hope you all enjoyed this review/recommendation! Let me know what your thoughts were & if you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me!

Sincerely,
"CHIMERAH"
chimerah.net@gmail.com

Makeup Review: L'OREAL Colour Riche Balm

So usually I do posts on luxury items, this time I wanted to change it up and review a more drugstore product that is really good. There's hits and misses at the drugstore, we all know how that is.  One product I was surprised I ended up really liking was the L'OREAL Colour Riche Balms.

L'OREAL is a huge company and owns a lot of the higher end brands such as Lancôme, Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, Biotherm, Kiehls, Shu Uemura, Urban Decay, Ralph Lauren, Maybelline, NYX, Kérastase & Essie just to name a few :) L'OREAL's drugstore products are probably the best in quality out of other drugstore brands, they are also more of the expensive drugstore lines.

L'OREAL Colour Riche Balm

These tinted lip balms are one of my favorites from the drugstore...they deliver good amount of conditioning to the lips without any tackiness (if you hate that) , they go on smoothly and have a pleasant faint vanilla/candy type smell as well :)

Made with jojoba and shea butter to hydrate and nourish the lips, it is said to last up to 8 hrs (softening your lips that is) condition the lips even after removal. The tint of colour is very sheer just to be clear, but they do show up... just very sheer, unless you layer them. Some have more pigment to them compared to others, especially the new vibrant colours that have been added lately.

L'OREAL Colour Riche Balm

Colours available are : In above picture, Left to Right;  "Plush Plum" darkest of the colours available, a pinkish plum tone with shimmer. "Heavenly Berry" a berry pink. "Tender Mauve" a light lilac/mauve with some shimmer. "Caring Coral" a light orange coral. "Rose Elixir" rosy pink. "Pink Satin" a light baby pink. "Nourishing Nude" a pink toned nude.
Other colours available which I do not have at the moment.. "Wild Lily", "Bold Blush", "Fiery Red", "Electric Pink"&  "Caramel Comfort",

I really recommend these for those who would like the idea of the YSL sheer candy balms but don't like the price, or anyone who would like a good quality sheer tinted balm. I use these balms whenever I'm in a rush to go out the door or I just have a very basic or simple look on & need just a little something on my lips. I tend to put these on at those times instead of taking time out to go through my lip stash & pick out a higher end lip colour.

You can purchase these for $7.99 USD on www.lorealparisusa.com , www.ulta.com or any other drugstores near you. For Canadians these are about somewhere $9.99 or up. You can find it at London Drugs, Shoppers Drug Mart, Walmart etc. :)

I hope you all enjoyed this review/recommendation! Let me know what your thoughts were & if you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me!

Sincerely,
"CHIMERAH"
chimerah.net@gmail.com

Makeup Review: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

Skin perfecting powders? Luminous skin? Yes please!! Thanks to the brand Hourglass we all get the benefits of these high performance finishing powders to make our complexions look aglow. Who doesn't need a bit more help in the complexion department? I certainly do!

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is the perfect mini size introduction for anyone to their soft focus finishing powders which also come in single compacts. They have no glitter in them, the formula is a light and smooth texture, not densely pigmented but almost a translucent lustrous powder. The magic really happens when you apply it :)

These powders are said to use Photoluminescence technology to enhance complexion and give flattering light effects. By diffusing the reflection of light & manipulating it, the result is the ability to conceal skin imperfections, pores and wrinkles. The luminescence makes the skin appear younger and softer. Use it daytime or nighttime.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

Shades included in this palette are: Left to Right. "Dim Light" neutral peach/beige powered that blurs  imperfections and highlights for a radiant complexion with a balance of warm & cool tones. "Incandescent Light" (exclusive to this palette) opalescent pearl powder provides brightening of the complexion with a luminous glow. And finally "Radiant Light" which is a golden beige enhances the overall complexion with subtle warm giving a summer glow.

Tip for ethnic skin tone ladies or even otherwise, you can use "Radiant Light" where you would naturally do contouring for shade and use "Incandescent Light" for under your eyes and any other areas you would like to highlight.

These powders can be used on any skin tone, you will have to figure out & manipulate them to suit your complexion needs. Can also be used to enhance skin in any light even in flash photography! Free of parabens, fragrance, talc, nanoparticles, gluten and is not tested on animals.

These lighting powders are completely worth the splurge! I highly recommend anyone who does wear makeup to have this as a integral part of their routine for special occasions, date nights/night out or whenever you want to look the best you can!

They retail for $67 CAD on www.sephora.ca and $58 USD on www.sephora.com  or $58 USD on www.hourglasscosmetics.com

I hope you all enjoyed this review/recommendation! Let me know what your thoughts were & if you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me!

Sincerely,
"CHIMERAH"
chimerah.net@gmail.com

Makeup Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Artist Palette

Im sure by now, all makeup enthusiasts & junkies (like myself) have been caught into a world wind affair, that every girl/woman is (or should be lol) having, with Anastasia Beverly Hills products. Catching the makeup world by storm with her immensely popular brow products, her brand has gone onto delivering amazing eye shadows, lip colours and much more!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Artist Palette gives users the opportunity to check out her incredible eye shadows that are available in single pans. These shadows are very pigmented & glide on so smoothly. This palette was a summer release emulating the seasons vivid shades. Finishes include velvet, shimmer & mattes, something for everyone!

I found this palette to have a good combination of neutrals & bright colours.  It really does hit the spectrum of colours, with shadows hitting shades/ hues of blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink & purple and your neutrals being black, brown, grey, beige & a mauve. This palette offers a range of colours for all skin tones. With skin types, whatever kind you may have its always a good idea to place an eye primer or any base of your choice for the shadows to adhere to :)

Perfect for travelling, the packaging is lightweight & compact, making it easy to put in a handbag or cosmetic bag. It also comes with a double ended eye shadow brush, one end is fluffy for blending & the other is a placement or crease brush...making it easy if you forget to pack eye shadow brushes :)
This is great for those who want a mix of brilliant colours with some neutral shades in one palette, that can be used with each other or alone.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Artist Palette

Colours & finishes included are as follows, from top left to right: "Dusty Rose" (matte), "Aubergine" rich reddish burgundy (velvet), "Anaconda" fern green (shimmer), "Punch Fuschia" hot pink with magenta shift (velvet), "Buttery" light buttercup yellow (velvet), "Blue Velvet" navy (velvet), "Coal" black (matte), "Unicorn" periwinkle blue/ slight purple (shimmer), "Phresh" bright sunshine yellow (matte), "Baby I'm a Star" chocolate brown (shimmer), "Orange You Fancy" tangerine orange (shimmer), "Beigely" warm grey/beige.

This retails for $41.69 CAD or $30.00 USD @ www.shop.nordstrom.com , or for $39.00 CAD @ www.sephora.ca (it is not offered on the American Sephora site).

I hope you all enjoyed this review/recommendation! Let me know what your thoughts were & if you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me!

Sincerely,
"CHIMERAH"
chimerah.net@gmail.com

Makeup Review: DiorSkin Nude Air Foundation

Can we talk about this? Yes, we need to talk about it. Dior's Diorskin Nude Air Foundation. This foundation blew my mind... okay not literally, lol, but whoa... this is amazing stuff!! What else can one expect from Christian Dior? Nothing short of Fantastic!

I've never used a foundation quite like this to date. Although I'm seeing a few new ones on the market that are similar. This Diorskin Nude Air Foundation is a very versatile foundation...light as air, giving your skin a chance to breath unlike some other foundations, has a very fluid consistency & feels like you are wearing nothing at all. Its described as a serum, supposed to give a "nude" look that gives a natural glow & it does come with a dropper in the cap so you can customize how much you'd like to use.

Now... I know what you're thinking.. its not going to cover much & more for people who want a sheer finish. Yes & No. Personally I need medium to full coverage, so when I decided to give this foundation a go I also thought..."this is not going to work, I have hyper pigmentation, acne..."etc etc. But when I started to work this into my skin, I found that it did cover! I built it up by putting one layer down, I do my face in sections & then going back I put another layer on, this time stippling with my brush (You can also use a face sponge of your choice) on areas I needed more coverage. I used about 3-4 good amount of drops & I managed to have extra foundation left over! The texture went from fluid serum to a nice velvety finish not matte though.

This foundation did give me a "nude" look..meaning I had built it up to a medium/full coverage but yet I looked natural and it gave me a very nice radiant glow. I really loved the finish. Not too dewy not too dry. Since this is advertised as a sheer foundation, for those of you who don't need much coverage can put this on lightly and it will balance out your skin tone. So really everyone can use it. If you need extra coverage after building it up to a medium/full coverage, just use a good concealer in areas or spots you need covered to the full extent :)

For those with combo or oily skin, use a mattifying primer underneath in areas that are oily. For sensitive skin you'll have to sample this out like any other product to see if it works for your skin. Normal to dry skin types, this is moisturizing but not overly dewy.
This foundation comes in a range of colours, from pale skin to darker skin tone beauties :)

Diorskin Nude Air Foundation is infused with "Oxygen Activ" technology that combines cranberry oil, hyper-oxygenated oils,  vitamins & minerals. Made so the oils evaporate instantly depositing an undetectable film of makeup on skin. SPF 25. Has soft focus agents and glazed pigments giving that even looking complexion. This product is free of talc*

You can purchase this at your local department store or beauty store. It retails for $53.00 USD or $59.00 CDN. Some suggestions: www.dior.com , www.sephora.com , www.sephora.ca

I hope you all enjoyed this review/recommendation! Let me know what your thoughts were & if you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me!

Sincerely,
"CHIMERAH"
chimerah.net@gmail.com

Book Review/Recommendation: "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard

"Red Queen" is a novel that got published this year 2015, by debut author Victoria Aveyard. If you enjoyed novels like " The Hunger Games", "The Selection" "Divergent" etc,  this would be another book to check out.

I kept seeing this novel on the bookstore shelves for some time, I kept going back and forth if I should pick it up or not, watching & reading the hype over it for few weeks. I finally gave in & bought it, and I'm really glad I did! This is a great book for adults to 15 yrs of age... Great read! I give this a 8.5 out of 10, I'm critical of my marks, so don't let that 8.5 fool you, that's a high mark from me!

Just to put this out there..this novel comes under the label of "Young Adult"/ "Teen". Ive spoke to many book store workers & managers, they all said that by all standards these books are adult books/stories, but because the main character's age is below 21 the book gets deemed a "Young Adult"/"Teen" novel, these types of books should normally be under the "Fantasy" or "Sci-Fi" section. Don't let this deter any of you from reading any books under these labels, some of the best novels I've read recently have been from this section!! :)

I personally really enjoyed this novel, I've heard from people that they weren't into it since it was in the same line as "The Hunger Games" cross with "The Selection" etc...I'm sure there will be comparisons of any book to any previous ones with similar idea, that's just how things are. However the story line is different & so are the characters. It had a great build of a storyline, good character development & detailed to give a good idea of things using imagination. This is not a teen love story...in fact the characters do not seem teenager(s) to me at all. So that's saying a lot.

Without giving too much away, this novel is based on a dystopian society, a young girl, elites, people with superhuman powers, commoners, royalty, betrayal, love, lies & games. It pretty much has everything good that should be in a "Fantasy' novel. This is a Fantastic debut from Aveyard, and there is already a continuation out called "Glass Sword".

Check this novel & its continuation out at your local bookstore or go to www.chapters.indigo.ca 
You can go there & purchase for 30% off for $15.29 online. 

I hope you all enjoyed this review/recommendation! Let me know what your thoughts were & if you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me!

Sincerely,
"CHIMERAH"
chimerah.net@gmail.com

Makeup Review: NARSissist Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette

If you're looking for a palette that has shimmery/satiny versatile colours, that cover your basic shades & have a quality to them... You need to get your hands on this NARSissist Dual Intensity Palette!

As with any NARS eyeshadows, these are well pigmented. Some have more shimmer than others, each are smooth & blend very well with others in palette or with any other colour you wish to use with. The colours range from neutrals, both cool & warm tone. Also with two colours to give things a pop ;) As you may be able to tell from picture below, I use mine ;)

Colours included are: Top Left to Right; "Europa" pink peach shimmer, "Himalia" light taupe brown shimmer, "Ursa Major" chocolate brown satin, "Subra" deep burgundy/plum satin with slight shimmer.
Bottom Left to Right; "Andromeda" pale pink satin, "Lysithea" cool grey shimmer, "Giove"  bright navy blue satin, "

NARSissist Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette

These shadows can be worn wet or dry. Use dry for a sheer to medium colour pay off, and wet for an intense wash of colour. The formulation is up to 8hrs of crease proof wear. These do not crease so far as I've experienced, however use a eyeshadow primer as always to prevent such a situation regardless of formulation & just to give a good base.

This is a palette you can easily travel with or if you have a handbag & are on the go, then definitely you can take it with you to turn your day look into a evening one :) It also does come with a wet/dry travel size brush. I highly recommend this palette &/or any NARS dual intensity eyeshadows in single form, they are so amazing!

Retails for $79.00 USD on www.sephora.com , sorry ladies its not available on the Canadian Sephora site. You can also purchase this on www.narscosmetics.com for $79.00 USD. Its a bit of a splurge, but if you want to get a palette that you can use year round, this should be on your "to get" list :)

I hope you all enjoyed this review/recommendation! Let me know what your thoughts were & if you have any further questions feel free to comment or email me!

Sincerely,
"CHIMERAH"
chimerah.net@gmail.com