Kat Von D: Tattoo Chronicles Candelabra Edition

Hey everyone! This is a review on the Kat Von D: Tattoo Chronicles Candelabra Edition eyeshadow palette. I got this as a present from my Aunt & Uncle (thanks!) & I thought it was so beautiful I had to post a review & swatches! Its sold at Sephora & retails for $49 USD, $59 CAD.

This is the front of the palette, the whole case is a black velvety material & the red is smooth metallic. The design was drawn by Kat & it opens like a book. 

 This is the first thing you see when you open it up. There are a few diary entries before you get to the makeup.

Next page.

Next page.

This is the makeup part of the palette. The left side is a mirror surrounded by shiny red & black designs, again by Kat. Then there are 12 eye shadows, 0.053 oz each & a full size Sin-Full Lash mascara in Puro Amor.

Close up of the eye shadows.

First Row

Second Row

Third Row

Fourth Row

Overall this palette is beautiful. The designs are gorgeous & the art work is amazing. The packaging itself is very boxy & strong with a light magnet keeping it shut. The eye shadows are a little powdery but are super pigmented. The majority are shimmer or glitter, the texture's remind me of Urban Decay. I havent opened the mascara yet, I will do a separate post on that when I finish the three I already have on the go. I think this palette is really great, I wish the shadows were a little less powdery but the quality is still pretty top. 

Rating: 4/5

xoxo Victoria.

Vichy Dercos Mineral Soft Shampoo Review

This product was given to me by a Vichy rep back in July. I used this product constantly for three weeks & then just off & on when I went blonde. There are quite a few things I like about it, however there are some cons to it as well.

What I really like about the shampoo is the bottle it comes in. The squirt top is nice, I’ve always hated bottles you have to pick up & squeeze upside down. The colour of the shampoo is completely clear which shows there are no dyes or colourants. I’ve also always thought that clear shampoo gives the illusion of cleaner hair, maybe thats just me though lol. The smell is extremely refreshing. It smells very clean but it is a really strong scent. This product has no parabens, colourants or silicone. All of these things are a plus for colour treated or chemically treated hair. This shampoo has a really gentle formula that can be used on babies as young as 3 months old. It contains minerals from Vichy Thermal Spa Water. This product is marketed for being ideal to Cliniderm users.

What I wasn’t too fond of was the fact that the scent was very strong. Even though it is formulated without 3 major “bad” ingredients, it clearly has fragrance in it which can be a bit drying to the hair. It also contains sulphates. It DOESNT contain “sodium lauryl sulphate” but it DOES have its sister ingredient “sodium laureth sulphate”. This ingredient helps the shampoo lather & is damaging to the hair, but it isn’t as bad as sodium lauryl sulphate. One thing I noticed when I used this shampoo was that my hair didn’t feel very soft when rinsing it out. I had to use a conditioner after.

Overall my hair felt nice once conditioned & dried, it also shined really nicely. I didn’t notice much of a difference in stopping my red hair from fading & Im really not a fan of the fact that it prides itself of not containing all these harsh chemicals but it contains one of the most known ingredients to stay away from; sulphates. This shampoo isn’t bad, but for the size & price (around $20 CAD for 400ml) I’d say there are other shampoo’s that can do better & don’t contain any sulphates. The cons to this shampoo outweighed the pro's in my opinion.

2.5 out of 5

xoxo Victoria.

Cargo Lash Activator Mascara Review

This is a review on the Cargo Lash Activator mascara. The tube I have is a travel size.

First thing I have to say is that the wand/brush on this mascara is very unique. Its extremely rubbery & flexible. Personally I'm not a huge fan of plastic or rubber mascara wands but this one is an exception. It separates the lashes very well & my lashes love to stick together in certain area's. It also doesnt create clumping or bother the roots of my lashes either (which is why I generally dislike rubber or plastic mascara wands). There is a slight curve to the wand that makes it extremely easy to go with the curl of your lashes. The formula of the actual mascara is lovely. I noticed that when first used its a little wet (i prefer mine less watery) but after a couple uses it becomes the perfect consistency, in my opinion. As I said before the wand doesnt create clumping & the formula itself doesnt clump either. Over all I love this mascara. I would repurchase it in a heart beat & I dont think I've ever repurchased a mascara before!

Here are a few photo's of the mascara on my eye after being curled with a lash curler (I use a tweezerman curler & pulse about 5 times on each eye). I applied 2 coats of the mascara letting the first coat sit for about 1minute. I like to do my first coat then do my brows & then apply the 2nd coat.

Products used on my eyes: 

MAC "groundwork" paint pot

MAC "rule" eyeshadow

MAC "blanc type" eyeshadow

NYX jumbo pencil in "black bean" (liner)

NYX jumbo pencil in "milk" (waterline)

Cargo Lash Activator mascara

MAC "corduroy" eyeshadow (brows)

xoxo Victoria.

Product Rave: Orly "LUXE" Nail Polish

I know, I've done way too many nail polish reviews lately but I recently purchased a bunch so bare with me. This will be the last polish review for quite a few posts, I promise!

This review is a little bit different because this is a product I LOVE. This has to be my favourite polish I own. Im very new to the Orly brand, being a recovering nail biter I havent really been too into doing my nails for the past 19 years. Thankfully, I broke the habit last summer. This nail polish is called "LUXE", its a metallic cool gold. In the picture above you can see that it includes silver shimer as well. It doesnt disort the colour at all, just adds impeccable sheen. Im a huge fan of matte polishes or flat colour polishes so it was huge suprise to me how much I liked this one.

The application couldnt be better. The formula is smooth & glides on the nail. The brush is standard & very easy to maneuver. There was no gunking, streaks, or blobbing & its incredibly easy to clean up off the skin. The wear time is very long. I've had this colour on my toes for 3 weeks now & no chipping! My hands get beaten up much more though but it's lasted me two days now & hasnt even scratched. Mind you the metallic shine could be hiding that. It blocks imperfections from being noticable.

 

Overall score: 5 out of 5!

xoxo Victoria.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear “Green With Envy” Nail Polish Review

I’ve used Sally Hansen polishes before & never had the best time with them. I found that they peeled off my nails very easily. I’ve been on the lookout for a certain shade of mint green nail polish for about a month now & Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear collection had the perfect shade. It was also on sale, one for $4 or 2 for $5. I saw this green colour & had to purchase it as well (of course I went with the better deal!)

This polish is called "Green With Envy" & is the perfect green apple shade. The colour is opaque, only 2 coats needed & it was very easy to remove from my skin if I painted outside the nail. The application isn’t my favourite though, I find the brush to be very straight & not as flexible as most other brushes are & it blobbed alot. Since the polish blobbed alot I would have to do many brush strokes in order to remove the massive amount of polish applied to the nail which then caused the polish to gunk a bit. This I noticed on my first coat. The second coat erased any imperfections the first coat had. Lasting power on this polish seems to be extremely good. The photo below was taken two days after application & I had also washed some dishes aswell as showered. Im very impressed with this polish & will definitely buy more from this particular line of Sally Hansen. (The coral polish on my one finger is Orly “Terracotta”)

Overall score: 4 out of 5

xoxo Victoria.

NYC Smooth Skin Liquid Makeup Foundation Review

NYC is a brand I was very familiar with during middle school & early high school. It seems to have a reputation of been a teen makeup brand. Once I discovered higher quality makeup I ditched NYC. It’s been a few years since I’ve used any products from them & it disappeared from alot of drugstores. I was recently browsing the makeup section at Walmart for sales on foundation. I needed a cheap liquid foundation for school purposes. I saw NYC & their sign for a new foundation costing only $5. I picked up a bottle.

I am the lightest shade in this collection, “ivory”. The first thing I noticed was that this colour blended into my jaw line perfectly when I tested it at the store. It became invisible within seconds. The first full application I did really impressed me. This foundation doesn’t have a funny smell like most cheap makeup brands do (it smells just like MAC foundations)

This foundation claims to be a light weight & blendable formula for buildable, flawless coverage. Its for all skin types, oil free, dermatologist tested, non-comedogenic & contains vitamins A & E. I paid attention to each of these claims. Light weight? Yes, it felt extremely light weight on my skin & didn’t appear cakey or uneven. Blendable? Very, this product is so soft & creamy it just glides like butter (it dries quickly so no need to worry about it staying creamy & movable). Buildable? I’d say so, its a light to medium coverage foundation. I applied it for a light coverage since my skin has very few imperfections. Flawless coverage? You tell me. This foundation did not break me out & I have extremely sensitive skin.

I am EXTREMELY impressed with this product, I’ll probably use it as my regular foundation (when I use liquid) instead of as cheap stuff for school. HOWEVER, the packaging for this product is TERRIBLE. I could not get the product out of this bottle for the life of me. I store it upside down in the cup I store my pens & pencils. The top of the lid is rounded so it falls over if placed upside down without anything supporting it. I have to pound the bottle onto the back of my hand to get the product out. Its almost as if the product is super thick when in the bottle & as soon as it transfers to skin it liquefies. Whatever the case may be, the packaging is a total drawback to this product. Its also a glass bottle so there’s no way of cutting it open & storing it in a much better package.

Overall score: 4 out of 5

xoxo Victoria.

Revlon "Polished" Top Speed Nail Polish Review

This is a new colour for the Revlon Top Speed nail polish collection.

I got this specific colour because I thought that peach would be an awesome shade for summer, however, this colour is much paler than it looks in the bottle. Its very sheer. I had to do 3 coats to get an opaque coverage. I felt it was too close to a colour you'd find in a "manicure" or "french tips" set at the drugstore. I will probably mix some orange into it to give it some colour.

As for the application, it went on fine. A few blobs on the brush here & there but nothing too difficult. I was fairly impressed with it. But the lasting time? I'd say it doesnt last long. This is the first nail polish I've ever purchased from this line & I'm pretty sure it'll be the last.

Right hand

Left Hand

A couple hours & one shower later one nail on each hand got screwed up. I painted one nail with Orly "Terracotta" which had no damage done. This could just be the specific colour I chose, the rest of the line could be quite nice but my personal experience with this polish wasnt the greatest.

Overall Score: 2.5 out of 5

xoxoVictoria.