February Favorites

Starting from now by the end of each month I will be posting my monthly favorites: products that I cant get enough of and sometimes I will throw in one or 2 products that didn't work out for me.

Lets start with Skin Care:

February's weather really had me going nuts, my skin never ever felt that dry before. AND because of all the weather changes my skin was really unstable & really broke me out. So this month I have a little bit more skin care product than ever before.

-My Conair Facial Steamer: This little machine is like a must have for all female and male. It really opens up your pores for better cleaning, you can feel the difference to your face after using it. (London Drug, Superstore, Walmart)

-Vichy Calming Cleansing Solution (for Face & Eyes): This really gets rid of any extra makeup that I may have left with just a makeup removing wipe. It really save my skin from breaking out & now I wont go anywhere without this bottle. (Shopper Drug Mart)

-Neutrogena Intensified Day Moisture (SPF 15): This little jar of cream made a huge difference to my dryness. Transform my dry skin to instant moisturize soft and smooth skin. A bonus to this is the spf I am not a big fan of wearing actual sunscreen in the winter. So I look for any products that contains any sort of SPF and this have just the perfect amount for winter. (Walmart)

-Laneige Strawberry Yogurt Peel: Since the weather really took a toll on my skin, I been getting acne scaring. This peel helped my scaring fade faster, is not going to be like magic gone instantly. It is going to take time and along with other products to fade it. But I can see that this peel did help for a faster recovery. (Soon to be found on my online store)

-My Beauty Diary Mask (Aloe & Pearl Powder Mask) The aloe mask helped with soothing my dry skin, the pearl powder mask helped with whitening and fading my acne scaring. (Soon to be on my online store, T&T)

-Clearasil Stayclear Acne Treatment Cream BP Plus: This I was really hesitant to put it on my monthly favorite, because it was really a love hate relationship. I love it because it really clear out my acne because of the Benzoyl Peroxide and also because of the BP it really dried out my skin even more. (Walmart, Superstore "sometimes")

Makeup: Although I have been trying out a few new products this month none of it made it into my favorite because of the lack of time.

-Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette: Great coverage for covering up most of my acne scaring but i still had to use another concealer for finishing touches. (Target, Ebay. This item is exclusive to US Target)

-Maybelline Mineral Power liquid Concealer: This is the perfect touch up for my blemishes and dark circles. (Any drugstore)

-Maybelline Shine Free Loose Powder in Light: Great additional coverage, really held my oils together. Blotting less for me=Less work=I am Happy:) (Target this item is exclusive to US. However you could get the shine free press powder here in CAD)

-Sigma SS209 Eyeliner Brush: I love to use this brush for a define thin line, which is great for natural look.

Thats it for my Feb favorites, tons of skin care products cause I mainly focused on my skin this month. I would like to know what your favorite of the month is: tell me on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-Glam-UP/183783444995398

Youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/LetsGlamUP (more videos will be uploaded soon)

Cheri

xoxo

Review: Maybelline Fit Me foundation

Sorry I have been totally MIA for a week...I was so caught up in a lot of different things that popped up during the week, that I had no time to write. Quick shout out to Michelle my good friend that just came back: WELCOME BACK hope you are having fun in our cold cold weather. But anyhow I wanted to do a review for a product thats currently being talked about all the time. That is the Fit Me foundation from Maybelline, I am a big fan of drugstore foundation. Don't get me wrong I love my department store foundation, but as an everyday foundation user the price just adds up over time. Drugstore foundation or I should say drugstore make up has improve their quality over the years. Some drugstore products are even extremely similar to department store ones, is unbelievable how things change over the years.

Fresh & Flawless is the whole concept of the FIT ME line from Maybelline. The foundation should give you a natural finish still letting your natural skin glow. The color of the foundation should blend seamlessly into your natural skin tone. By picking out the same shade numbering to other products, you will find the right color to go along with your shade. Products offered in the Fit ME Line includes: Foundation, Concealer, Press Powder, Bronzer & Blush. I picked up 2 things from this line the foundation and the press powder in 120.

When I rate a foundation I like to base it on a few factors: Experience with shade selection, Texture, Coverage, Lasting Power, Packaging & Price range.

Usually my experience with shade selection for drugstore foundation is a mess, I hate it because there's always no testers. That just sucks cause in order to know your exact shade. You always need to test it out on the side of your face and blend it in. Therefore you really have to know your undertone and shades that will work for you. Although there wasn't a tester with this line, there was a plastic sheet that had the coloring of the foundation on it. Which was helpful in some shape or form since you could sorta match it with your hand. I have to say that my experience with the shade selection in this line went pretty smooth. I was able to pick out the right shade for my skin at the first time and I never ever done that before. Especially with Maybelline Foundation, since I find that they have way too much orange tone to their foundation. I always had to repurchase or figure out another way to make it work for me. Another thing that also helped was having the different foundation separated into different shade category: Light, Medium & Dark. There was a decent amount of shades to pick from in each category: around 5-6 different shades. So I do think that it will be a bit easier for everyone to find a shade that matches them.

Every foundation always claims to do something or to feel a certain way. We always want to know if it stays true to what it claims. This foundation claims to be silky and blends seamlessly to your skin, feeling light letting your skin breath. The question is did it do all that; and the answer is YES. OMG YES IT DID....for the first time again it stay true to what it claims. It felt so smooth and light on my face no matter how many layers I applied. (I applied 3 layers for extra coverage) It definitely blended seamlessly, I could barely see any streak marks. (I did blend it with my fingers which was the way it was suggested) So I Give it a THUMBS UP for the texture.

Since the foundation was marketed to feel very light on the skin, so it could breath. There wasn't much coverage, I have to say this is a light to a build able medium coverage foundation. This is definitely not for someone that needs a lot of coverage to even out major discoloration or scaring. I have very little discoloration but I do have acne scaring which is fading slowly. However I did used 3 layers of foundation to get a decent amount of coverage on my scaring, is definitely lighter to what I am use to wearing.

I have heard a lot of reviews saying that the foundation got really oily within 1-2 hours. I actually filmed myself to test out how long the foundation would last, I was actually expecting the worst but it surprised me. It lasted for 7 hours until I saw visible creasing. I will insert the video link down below for more information and to see the transformation from start to end.

Packaging is to heart to great sales, good packaging will suck you in. This is one of those drugstore packaging that looks very classy and high end. With the glass tube and simple design on the bottle it looks to be expensive. The only down fall to the foundation packaging is that theres no pump. I always don't get why companies design a foundation bottle without a pump. You waste product by pouring out too much with a pump you have more control to your product.

Price point for this foundation was around $8CAD, is in the typical drugstore foundation price range. Originally I thought the Foundation would retail at a higher price point like $12CAD. So I was pretty surprise that both the foundation and the powder was $8CAD.

Would I buy it again? Yes, but I would probably buy it again when my skin gets more clear.

Would I recommend this to a friend? Yes only if they have clear skin or with minor imperfection and want something light.

How many cherries would you give for this foundation? 4/5 Cherries (the pump issue for 1 point, .5 for coverage & .5 for lasting power)

Vote on the poll on the top right hand corner of my blog for what you would like to see next.

Also please "like" my Facebook Page you can click the Facebook badger on the left hand corner of my blog.

For the Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODhoGT7uIt4 (subscribe) i will be making a lot more videos from now on

Cheri

xoxo

Open Box Review: NYX Ultimate Beauty Box

My HauteLook Order finally came in, if you recall two weeks ago I did a blog post of the HauteLook Sales event for NYX. Well I took advantage of the sales and got a little something for myself: The NYX Beauty To Go Ultimate Beauty Box. Shipping was faster than I expected, since it was estimated it would come on the 25th. I was sorta expecting a WOW from this palette since the pictures looks absolutely amazing. However when I opened the palette, I got a mix feeling for this product. Not that it wasn't nice or anything, I just expected a little bit more. There's some things I don't like about this box is more of a design issue rather than the product quality.

Packaging:

The box is pretty big and heavy itself it feels sturdy and quite compact for how much is offering inside. However I am just not a big fan of the finishing of the box, it has this glossy finish which is really easy to scratch. I am just one of those girls that like to keep my palettes looking new and clean. With that glossy finish it just isn't helping, the box already have a few scratches and I just got it for a day.

Shadow Placement:

I wish that NYX could have gone with a color placement system, either by color to shade or by colors that work with different colors. It was weird to see that most of the shadow placement were scatter everywhere. This makes it very difficult for beginners, who doesn't have the color matching experience.

Quality:

I expected good color pay off and high pigmentation from NYX, since they are known for their affordable price with great quality. I am glad that they kept that quality in this palette, since the tin size is quite small you wont need to use as much product.

Variety of Color:

You get a decent amount of color variation, I have to say that you are looking mostly at neutral tones colors rather than bright in your face ones. Formula wise this palette is mostly shimmer, few satin finish and only 1 matte finish. I am glad most of these are shimmer formula, cause I love shimmer but by how the palette is marketed I would guess that it would have more different finishes.

Was this Palette a disappointment to me at fist impression? NO, although there's quite a few things I didn't like about it. But they still kept the quality of the product which is the most important to me.

I would give it 4 out of 5 Cherries at this point.I would need to use this palette more to give a full review and to know how practical this palette is at the end of the day.

UPDATE: For a full Review of this Palette Click here:

http://letsglamup.blogspot.com/2011/07/full-review-nyx-beauty-to-go-palette.html

Pictures of the Swatches is posted on my Lets Glam Up Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-Glam-UP/183783444995398

Cheri

xoxo

Soft & Sweet Valentine Day Nail Tutorial

Ladies are you ready for Valentine's Day yet? You got your make up, hair style and clothes set for your date but still feels there's something missing. Maybe is your nails why don't we turn our boring nails to make it look sweet and cute. Since is Valentine's Day I am sticking with soft pastel color & pinks, to add a little twist I also used a sparkle nail polish.

These are the product I used to achieve these nails; Kiss nail filer, Sally Hansen-Hard as Nail polish "Sheer French Color", Wet n Wild nail color in Sparked & SaSa-Pinkey Pure Nail polish in Clear (as my top coat).

Pull out all your equipments and lets get started:

Step 1: If you have long nails this is the time to file your nails to your desire shape & length. After take a soft pink preferably with a hint of nude nail color. I am using Sally Hansen-Sheer French Nail Color, is a creamy peach color with a hint of pink. Apply a sheer coat of this color starting from the middle, so the product will concentrate there, than apply it to the side. (Tip: when apply the color rotate your finger to where the color needs to be place, instead of moving the brush for a quick application) Depending on how sheer the nail color is and how opaque you want the color to be, go ahead and apply a second coat if needed. (I did do two coats with the Sally Hansen nail color since is pretty sheer)

Step 2: After letting your basic color dry, it took about 10-15 mins for mine to dry. Is time to add some sparkle on to your nails, here I am doing a gradient affect to my nails with the sparkles polish. Taking my Wet n Wild Nail Color in Sparked(a glitter pink and silver nail color) wipe off as much of the product off the brush on the tip of the bottle. Apply the color starting from midway of the nail we want a sheer wash of the sparkle.

Step 3: Than grabbing a bit more nail polish and concentrate the sparkle on the tip of your nails now. The sparkle should look very light from the mid point and gets brighter moving up towards the tip of your nail. Let that dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Step 4: After 10 mins later the sparkle should have dried, take your favorite Top coat and apply that over your nails. Since we are working with sparkles I suggest applying a minimum of 2 layers of top coat. We don't want our nails chipping off during dinner with your date.(Tip: if you wish to keep your nail color longer, apply a top coat every single day to seal the color in)

You now got pink pretty nails thats soft and sweet with a pink & silver sparkles for a little fun. Hope you enjoy this tutorial and I will be back with more tutorials for you all. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone again and have a good one.

Cheri

xoxo

Deal of The Day "Smashbox"

Smashbox lovers you are in luck, the Iconic Palette is back in stock and is now for $12.60 CAD! YES you heard me right only $12.60 for a $46 value product, this offer is only available online at Sephora. So don't go running to the store to pick this up cause you wont be able to find it. The Palette contains 4 pigmented eyeshadow in a brown, shell, peach and light blue color with a mirror in the compact. These colors are neutral enough for a day to day use. Fan of Smashbox or not take advantage of this opportunity because this type of deal wont happen much. If you never tried Smashbox and want to get into the brand this is a great way to start.

http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P282032&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=3990

Valentine Day Makeup "Bold & Strong"

Don't have a date for Valentine doesn't matter you can still rock this look. This isn't your typical soft and romantic look, colors I am using is a bit brighter and wilder. If you want you can opt for a softer matte color to tone the look down. I am using the Coastal Scent 88 Shimmer Palette, you can use whatever you have. I am using a few main colors in this palette; Hot Pink, Light Purple, Muted Purple and Pale Yellow.

Step 1:

Prime your lids with a eyeshadow primer, I am using Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer

Potion. Take a pale yellow shadow or you can use a champagne or white and pad that along your lids. Concentrate the color on your lids and take it a bit up beyond your crease, you can also apply that on to the brow bone. Make sure you blend out the harsh line before moving on to the next step.

Step 2:

Take a hot pink shadow, if you don't have a hot pink use a softer pink this is just for a gradient effect. Now have the color concentrate on the outer corner and fade it

into the middle. You want the least color in the middle and don't over do the pink because it can make you look like you didn't get any sleep. Blend it out lightly you don't want the pink to spread too much.

Step 3:

Take a light purple and place it on 1/3 of the lid, again you want to go from darkest to lightest. This step is to build up a gradient so don't cover too much of the pink cause we still want that showing. Now is time to add some depth I chose a muted purple over a black because these colors are so bright, adding a black would mud out the whole look. So use a pencil brush and concentrate the color on the outer corner and lightly blend it up the crease and into the 1/3 of the lid. Remember the trick to this look is the blending, you want a gradient effect. So you should have colors overlapping, but not totally covered so fading the color is important.

Step 4:

Line your upper lash line and tight line with your favorite liner, I am using the Revlon Color Stay Eyeliner in Black. Tight lining your eyes is also known as invisible eyeliner, there is a tiny part of skin that sits right between your upper lash line and you eye balls. Lift up your lids a bit and run your eyeliner on that area, that is call tight lining and it will make your lashes look a lot fuller. Make sure to only use a pencil or kohal eyeliner on the tight line.

Step 5:

Curl your lashes and apply a coat of your favorite Mascara, I am using the Maybelline Falsies Volume Express Mascara in Blackest Black. Than you are all done with your eyes, just add a hint of blush on your cheeks and lip color than your are set for V day.

Hope all of you will have fun on v day and spend it with the people you love and care. I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day.

I know this look is a bit bold for v day, I was actually going to save this look for the spring inspire look. However I am currently sick and don't have the energy to create a look to have pictures taken. So I was not sure if I was able to get a V day look in time, therefore I had to put this up for now if I get better by Friday I will do a more romantic one and get it up on Sat.

Also make sure to check my facebook page out for request, questions and answer.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-Glam-UP/183783444995398

Cheri

xoxo

Review: Sigma Brushes "The Complete Kit with Brush Roll"

Time for another product review, lets see who is on for judgement today: Sigma Brushes. Well to be more specific is the Complete Kit with Brush Roll, since they are they only brushes I have from Sigma. Is hard to rate brushes because is base on what each person likes & how the brushes work for them. I may not like a particular brush because of it size but someone may appreciate it. Therefore I can only rate it under Quality and Value but not Practicality.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Quality:

-You are getting great quality from Sigma there is no doubt about it. Their brushes are soft and not scratchy. There may be one or two brushes that sheds when you wash it but is not terrible. The handle of the brush is thick and sturdy which you will have a nice grip to. Also no matter how many times you wash your brush it still feel soft and not scratchy or rough.

Value:

- Are you getting a bang for your buck? I have to say yes although this kit isn't dirt cheap, but the price range is reasonable for what you are getting. This kit cost $99 CAD w/out shipping, you may look at that price and say is hell expensive but think again. You are getting 12 different brushes with a good range from face to eyes, plus you get a brush roll and the quality is as comparable to MAC. If you look at MAC brushes 1 face brush can cause you from $38 CAD to $62 CAD. You get 5 different face brushes from Sigma, lets transfer that to MAC Brushes. With 5 face brushes you will be paying $190 CAD and thats only if all 5 of them are worth $38. Thats a lot of money there and you are only getting 5 brushes for $190 but with Sigma you are getting 12 brushes for $99. See the big difference and you are probably going at the whole "what about the shipping and tax?" Say it all comes to a max of $20 you are still only paying $119. Thats a difference of $300 you can use that for something else clothes, text book, fancy dinner whatever it may be.

-Plus your brushes will have a longer life span than your other brushes. Since Sigma brushes are hand made to perfection running under high standards. Which means you wont have to spend so much on brushes over the next couple of years, trying to replace brushes that are deform in less than a year.

The only down fall to this kit is that some brushes have this weird smell to it but after a few washes is good. So that was the only thing I didn't like so much cause it made the other brushes smell bad.

Would I buy this set of brushes again?

Yes, this set of brushes are your basic and I would repurchase you cant go wrong with more basic brushes.

Would I recommend this kit to the general public?

Depends because not everyone would want a full kit. Some may only like to do face makeup and don't need eye brushes so you may not need to purchase a whole kit. Now there are just face or eyes kit if you only do one specific area available.

Would I recommend this to starters?

Yes/No. Yes for those starters that have a bit of experience and are looking to expand than definitely yes. No to those that are just starting and experimenting with makeup and are on a tight budget. What I would suggest to those is the Sigma Travel kit (not the Premium), that way you are getting a bit of everything for a cheaper price and the quality is the exact same but keep in mind is not full size brushes.

Cheri

xoxo