Sneak Peek: YSL Spring Look 2012

January 11, 2012 | 29 Responses

The best thing about being in the middle of winter is the launch of many Spring collections that are bursting with hope (of warm days ahead) and colour. Here’s a look at some items from YSL Spring Look 2012.

Bright sheer colours make up this punchy spring collection, which is inspired by candy! Who doesn’t like candy?

YSL Rouge Volupté Perle in No 114 – Sparkling Fuchsia and No 115 – Shimmering Coral

These are two of four limited edition Rouge Volupté Perle shades ($38). The other are No 113 – Iridescent Burgundy and No 116 – Milky Pink. They are glossy sheer lipsticks with a very slippery texture of a lip balm. Both these shades are laced with gold pearl. See more swatches at Best Things In Beauty.

YSL Vinyl Candy Palette

The gorgeous, limited edition Vinyl Candy Palette ($68) was inspired by sugar-coated rock candies. The pigmentation of these eyeshadows is sheer-to-medium without a base (see swatches below), but easily buildable if opaque is what you’re looking for. I had a bit of problem with the blackcurrant shade to apply evenly, but the rest of the shadows are very smooth.

YSL Voile de Blush in No 2 – Coral Veil

YSL Voile de Blush ($40) is a new, limited edition formula for the collection. It is a sheer, water-based gel blush that adds a hint of colour and subtle sheen to the cheeks. It is very lightly tinted that it barely shows up on my tan skin, so your mileage will vary depending on your skintone. The blush is also available in No 1 – Carmine Veil and No 3 – Pink Veil.

YSL Rouge Volupté Perle in No 114 – Sparkling Fuchsia and No 115 – Shimmering Coral / YSL Voile de Blush in No 2 – Coral Veil Swatches

YSL Vinyl Candy Palette Swatches

I adore the the eye palette and the lipsticks in this collection. I can’t wait to show you a look using the products. What do you think? Anything you want to take home?

YSL Spring Look 2012 is available in Canada as of February in Holt Renfrew and selected Bay and Murale stores. The Vinyl Candy Palette is also available at selected Sephora boutiques.

Disclosure: Product was provided by manufacturer for editorial consideration only. For more information, see my Editorial and Advertising Policy.

Annabelle and Marcelle Beauty Premiere Party Rocks Toronto!

November 21, 2011 | 17 Responses

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Last week, I went to the much anticipated Beauty Premiere party being hosted by two of my favourite Canadian brands: Annabelle and Marcelle. The party was held at the uber swanky Thompson Hotel Rooftop. Check out the view!

The view from the Thompson Hotel rooftop

The venue was packed! Of course, almost everyone from the Toronto Beauty Bloggers community came out to mingle. I got a little carried away chatting that I didn’t get to snap too many photos, but I have enough to share with you.

Beauty Premiere introduced several exciting new products from the brands. They had booths set up and a member of their team talked to us about the innovations and benefits of each product. The makeup and skincare products below will be available by Spring 2012.

Marcelle Renforcils Waterproof Eye Make-up Remover

Marcelle Renforcils Waterproof Eye Make-up Remover is a gel make-up remover with micellar water. Think about it like this: it’s our beloved Marcelle Essentials Purity Soothing Cleansing Water in gel form. Not only will it pack the same make-up removing power, but it also contains ingredients that fortify your eyelashes to prevent fallout. Great idea, no?

Marcelle Xtension Plus Mascara

Marcelle is coming out with a new mascara called Xtension Plus. It promises to provide extra length and curl. Apparently it’ll be as good — if not better — than the Power Volume mascara in terms of curling power, so I am very excited about this one! I received it in my swag bag so I’ll definitely review it after I’ve played with it for a while.

Marcelle BB Cream

Pardon the awful picture quality — the lighting conditions were clearly not something my Canon G11 can handle. Anyway, what’s big and cool in Asia is now slowly coming to Canada. What am I talking about? The super popular BB Cream is supposed to provide a lot of good-for-your-skin ingredients while offering a little bit of coverage to even out your skintone. Available in two shades: Light-to-Medium and Medium-to-Dark.

Marcelle Gene Youth Skincare

A trio of day cream, night cream and eye cream, they are also coming out with Marcelle Gene Youth Skincare. Unfortunately I don’t have anything to say about these guys because it got too loud in the party and I couldn’t hear anything! Sorry. :S

Annabelle Smudge Paints

The Annabelle Smudge Paints aren’t new, but because they are awesome, they deserve to be shown off in the party. These are gel liners or cream eyeshadow bases, and they have great staying power.

Annabelle Glitterama Liquid Eyeliner

Eight new colours of Annabelle Glitterama Liquid Eyeliners are coming out as well.

I had a great chat with the lady at the Glitterama booth, but I didn’t get her name! I was telling her the fact that I try both high- and low-end brands for my blog, and many times I’ve been impressed with how well Annabelle and Marcelle products stack up against the expensive brands. She told me that they know that, and their marketing team knows that. I wish more people knew, though. Every time I recommend the brands to someone who’s not into beauty, they said they haven’t even tried anything from these brands. But slowly but surely, I think we beauty bloggers are getting that word out!

Annabelle Big Show Lipglosses

The Annabelle Big Show Lipglosses are sheer, high-shine, unscented, non-sticky lipglosses. They feel really nice and moisturizing on the lips. Oh and, we even had the opportunity to create our own shade. !!!

Annabelle Big Show Lipgloss Mixing Station

Annabelle Big Show Lipgloss Mixing Station — with gorgeous Robyn of Fashionista 514!

My favourite guy that night — Mr. Lipgloss Scientist Dude, who by the way, gave me some photography tips as well.

O hai. This is my lipgloss. I don’t know what to call it yet, but for some reason “Seduction” keeps popping up. Haha.

Makeup platter

There were servers who were walking around with hors d’oeuvres, and others who were walking around with platters of makeup. Yes, eyeshadows, eyeliners, and other makeup free for all! I’m pretty sure I saw this scene before in my sweet sweet dreams.

Keep reading to see more pictures!

Click to see more pictures!

IMATS Toronto 2011: Show Specials From Canadian Exhibitors!

October 19, 2011 | 19 Responses

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I want to do something different this year for my IMATS pre-show coverage. This is the third year I will be attending IMATS, I have become quite a bit of a veteran on what to look for, which booths get the most hype from the crowd, what’s worth the money, and so on.

This year, I want to feature our Canadian exhibitors at the show. Not everyone knows this, but there are a lot of amazing brands at IMATS that are based in Canada! A lot of you (like me!) are now coming up with your game plan for IMATS, so to help you out, I asked the brands to share their biggest DEAL$ for IMATS Toronto!!!

Here they are, in alphabetical order.

Cover FX

I love Cover FX; I think I’ve made that known on here before. If you have concealing to do, you know Cover FX has you covered. They have a couple of amazing value sets to choose from at the show.

First, the general show special – 1 Cover FX Trio, 1 Conceal FX, 1 SkinPrep FX, #160 brush – will be available for $70.00 (value $165).

A special for the pros – a set of 16 pro pots (8 light-to-medium and 8 medium-to-dark), Setting FX Light 6.5g, Matte FX Medium, SkinPrep FX, #160 brush – in the show only for a special price of $195.00 (value over $300). Pro Pot Shades: C – 10, 30, 50, 60; E – 0, 20, 40, 60; M – 20, 30, 50, 80; B – 0, 15, 25, 45.

(Cover FX Website)

Distribution Dinair

Airbrush Makeup and Facial Tanning Kit (Valued at $400) for only $249 (taxes included)! This is a great starter kit that includes 4 foundation shades, 4 bonus shades, a sample of their new concealer, a set of brows/shadow stencils and a facial tanner! The compressor, airbrush, hose, cleaner, moisturizer and DVD are also all included.

(Distribution Dinair Website)

FACE atelier

FACE atelier — the maker of possibly the best liquid foundation formula evarr! — will be offering 20% off retail price for consumers, as well as show specials that are too good to advertise! Make sure to check out their Lip Glazes as well; we reviewed Prim Rose and Peach before.

(FACE atelier Website)

Lit Cosmetics

Now we have glitter!!! Or, as I lovingly call it, glittarz. Lit Cosmetics is a company based out of Calgary, Alberta. They offer all sorts of sparkly stuff as well as glitter bases, which I’ve read are absolutely fabulous.

Mini Me Lit Kit $30, which includes: a 30 ml Clearly Liquid Glitter Base (Daily Wear), 2 mini brushes, 2 glitter, a sparkle duster, and a reusable silk bag.

Large Lit Kits (choose from three sizes, prices below), which include: a 30 ml Clearly Liquid Glitter Base (Daily Wear), 2 pro brushes (Liner & Round), multi glitter, sparkle duster, reusable tote bag.

3 x stack Lit Kit – $40
4 x stack Lit Kit – $50
5 x stack Lit Kit – $60

In the kits, you can also replace the “Daily Wear” glitter base with “Water Resistant” glitter base for an additional $5.

(Lit Cosmetics website)

Velour Lashes

I came across Velour Lashes while checking the vendor list for IMATS and oh. my. god! The lashes are absolutely to die for! Each pair of Velour lashes are handmade with 100% authentic mink fur. Colleen of Fembotika once told me that a full set of mink fur lash extensions cost about $800, so you can understand why Velour lashes aren’t cheap.

Regular price for their lashes are $59.99 – $64.99, and for IMATS, they are selling them for $20 – 22 per pair (cash only)! Also, Toronto makeup artist Joan Huang will be there to help those who want to apply their lashes.

(Velour Lashes Website)

yaby cosmetics

I have a confession to make: yaby cosmetics is my new brand crush. Everything for a makeup artist’s kit is available in compact palettes, making it easier to travel with them. I have my eyes on the Dramatically Neutral Eyeshadow palette. Want… nay, need!

Everything at 30-40% off! There will also be a draw for three $25 gift certificates at the yaby cosmetics booth! Also, check out Roshar on Sunday, as he will be presenting a class on the use of color on runway using yaby cosmetics.

(yaby cosmetics Website)

So, what’s on your to-buy list at IMATS? Picking up anything from our Canadian brands?