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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Joe Fresh cosmetics

When I checked my stash for products to review, the first brand that came to mind was Joe Fresh cosmetics. Their line doesn't seem to have a lot of visibility over the internet as I can only find a few blog posts and videos featuring their products.  I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on this Canadian line which offers awesome products at a low price point. In fact, you can only get these at local supermarkets (Loblaws and Real Canadian superstore).

I normally check online sources for reviews before buying any product.  But for Joe Fresh, it's just pure impulse.  I remember the first product I bought from their line was their powder blush in Pink, creamy lipstick in Cinnamon, and tinted lip balm in Honey (read: blush and lipstick hoarder! LOL).  It was love at first try, so I've been going back and collecting more.

Take a peak at my Joe Fresh collection... Forgot to include the tinted lip balms.  I'll cover that in a future post along with some new lip glosses I have acquired recently :)

Joe Fresh Canada stash
Joe Fresh Canada stash
Happy Joe Fresh family :)

I love the formula of their cream blushes as they're not sticky and sloppy as the NYX counterpart.  Blends easily and dries to a powder finish.  I have long gave up on cream blushes as they tend to accentuate freckles and age spots on my cheeks. Furthermore, my cheeks turn oily in the middle of the day because of how emollient most creamy products are. Greasy cheeks - not a good sight. That being said, cream blushes are off limits in my stash for some years.  These babies totally changed my mind and gain back my fondness on cream blushes. The lasting power is superb.  An application in the morning is enough to last me the entire work day.  I initially got the shade in Apricot, which looks like... uhm... apricot! (gee, I'm really bad at describing things)  Imagine coral with a prominent orange hue.  The shade just brings life to my otherwise dull and yellow-toned face.  I couldn't get enough of it so I decide to pick up another bright color in Melon.  Melon is definitely more vibrant and more coral than Apricot.  It looks scary on the pan but definitely not so on the cheeks.  I'd say both shades are summer must-haves! :)

The powder blushes have been staple in my stash and I love them as much as the cream blushes. But I do use these more often than the cream versions as I can apply them in snap and get out of the door in no time.  These come in various shades which have a mix of subtle colors and bright bold colors.  I got 4 powder blushes - Pale PeachBuffPink and another one in rosy color of which the name I can't recall for now.  Pale Peach and Buff are subtle everyday colors that gives just a slight flush on the cheeks.  As light as it is, they show up quite well on my skin tone (NC25-30).  Pale Peach is a peachy color that falls between Benefit's Sugarbomb and Coralista without the sheen. Buff,  on the other hand, looks light beige on the pan like a face powder shade, but definitely applies pink on the cheeks.  It's like a darker version of Benefit's Dandelion. For some reason, Buff reminds me of a bride's flushing glow.  Don't ask me why, I don't know either :) Both blushes feels like MAC's beauty powder blush with more pigmentation.  My definite faves!  

Too bad, I forgot to take photos of Pink and the other rosy shade before I gave them away.  I still see them on the racks but not on Joe Fresh's website. Discontinuing? Probably.  Pink is a bright shade that resembles MAC's Dollymix.  I'm not sure if it's a dupe coz I don't own Dollymix.  But they definitely look similar.  I have Cargo Catalina so I decided to give Pink away.  The other rosy shade, I remember giving it away coz it looks a lot like MAC's Prism, which I already have (and seldom use).

Joe Fresh blushes are 6 CAD each, which is pretty cheap in my opinion. I love these as much as my other high-end blushes.


blushes
blushes
Top: Cream blushes in Melon and Apricot
Bottom: Powder blushes in Pale Peach and Buff

Next up are lip products. I had picked up a few cream lipsticks but only one left in my stash right now. Again, purged due to duplicates.  The one I have now is in Nude, which I believed is part of Spring 2011 collection. I'm totally up for anything nude so I got this despite the overflowing nude lippies in my stash.  Nude is actually not nude, but pink and slightly frosty.  I can pull it off but not the type of nude I was expecting.  The formula is ok - creamy and pigmented, doesn't dry the lips but not moisturizing either.  A slight swipe of this gives you full color.  Staying power is average. I'd say 3-4 hours with constant drinking.  The other shades I gave away were from their permanent line - Cinnamon and Pink.  Cinnamon is warm beige that falls into MLBB category for most but just a tad bit dark for my liking.  Pink is a lighter and frostier version of Nude. I prefer natural lip colors so I tend to retain wearable nudes in my stash - which I admit is a boring color preference.  And since I'm a sucker for nude, I got the matching lip gloss in Nude.  I must say, this is the perfect nude for me - slightly dusty, slightly pink.  It resembles my favorite MAC Blankety and the Faerie Glen lipsticks in a MAC cremesheen glosses form.  Formula is slightly liquidy and not sticky.  Nude is considered quite pigmented for a gloss as it's enough to cover my natural lip color without a lipstick underneath.  Another point worth noting is that it is not super shiny like the MAC lip glasses. I might be the only person who prefer less shiny glosses. It just looks more natural and wearable on my lips (slightly full and slightly pouty).  Nude is my fave gloss at the moment :)

Joe Fresh lipsticks are 6 CAD each and lip glosses costs 8 CAD each. I think the glosses are slightly pricey for a drugstore/supermarket brand... it would be nice if they keep these at 6CAD each like most Joe Fresh products.

cream lipstick & lip gloss
Lippies

cream lipstick in nude
Cream lipstick in Nude

nude lip gloss
Lipgloss in Nude

  Here are the swatches :)

swatches
Top: Lip gloss in Nude
Bottom L-R: cream lipstick in Nude, Melon, Apricot, Pale Peach, Buff

This post is lengthy enough, so I'll leave the eye products in my next review.

Friday, May 20, 2011

my space... my vanity

My vanity is finally up and ready for me to waste hours on it... :)  Love love love!!!

vanity! :)
Ikea Micke desk + Stave Mirror
(mirror reflection shows hubby's tv antenna stacked on top of my son's mega block box LOL )

Totally loving the clean and contemporary look of the desk and mirror.  If I were to get the same furniture years back, I would have gone with the traditional birch or white desk.  My taste in colors have changed a bit after watching so many home improvement shows on TV.  Prior to setting up this vanity, our room is pretty bare so I pretty much have the flexibility to go either light or dark.  I decided to go with black-brown to match the blue-gray wall and silver bed frame.  Totally loving the outcome.  I'm still in the quest for a makeup stool with a touch of vintage feel.  Check out little Picasso's scribble on the foldable chair I'm using now... very "artistic" indeed LOL

Back in th days, I used to only have a powder, blush, lipstick and eyebrow pencil in my stash. I only started acquiring more products around 2008, when I was pregnant with my son and too paranoid to look "too pregnant" :)  In 3 years, my stash has grown so much bigger.  As hubby will always comment - how many face do I have to use up all these products?  Gasp!  It's just so hard to resist... but I will certainly be limiting my purchases from today on.  Check out how I store my babies :)

everything must fit!
This picture warns me to stop buying... whatever doesn't fit should be disposed or given away...

eyeshadows
Eyeshadows

blushes galore
Blushes, Bronzers, Highlighters

face and lip products
Base and lippies

old sterilite drawer
old sterilite drawer which used to house all my makeup stuff before.

clean brushes...
clean brushes. I wrap the eye brushes in tissue to dry so they keep their shape - a tip I got from Dustin Hunter.

more lippies
more lippies...

brow pencils, eye liners, mascaras, brow tints
brow pencils, eyeliners, brow tints...

concealers and eye primers
concealers and eye primers...

used brushes
used brushes...

brush container to store bigger clean brushes
clean brushes - yes, it's pamper's baby wipes container :)

That's pretty much everything I have.  I didn't even realize I've accumulated so much in just 3 years.  That's not even considering the other products I have given away to friends in the past. Yikes!  Just a glance at my stash, it's probably obvious that I'm a blush and lipstick addict. Admittedly, I have a lot of duplicate shades in my stash coz I always gravitate towards natural colors - light pink, light peach, and nude.  I probably need to do some comparison between products and keep only one product for each shade.  And for the duplicates, I think they deserve a new home than just sitting in my drawer. A blogsale perhaps in the near future :)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

my space... my vanity - prelude

It's been 4 years since I moved out of my parents house after getting married. Back in my room, I had a full vanity table - complete with mirror, table, and storage.  It was a hand me down from my god sister eons ago. That table must be at least 25+ years old now.  Albeit old and dusty, it is still in tact and waiting for me at my parents house. Since then, I never had a vanity table due to constant moving.  I've been pretty much doing my makeup in the bathroom ever since.

We've been here in Canada for 3 years now and moved 3 times!  I'm glad we finally found a permanent place and moved in late last year. The pad has a good size bedroom which currently has our queen size bed and my son's toddler bed.  Fortunately, there's still enough room for me to setup a vanity table. Giddy me :) Thus, the quest for the perfect vanity table started. I don't want to clutter up the room with furnitures so I need it to be compact yet efficient.   It took several months of online browsing to get ideas. I settled with Ikea Micke + Stave in black-brown.

ikea Stave mirror

ikea micke desk

Having a new vanity table means I have to do some cleaning, sorting and organizing my stash.  I was determined to fit everything into the Micke drawer. Anything that can not fit, should really be disposed or given away.  I don't think I can use up a drawer full of makeup! *gasp*  I'm still in the process of organizing and purging.  Will have to do it before we go outlet shopping this long weekend! :)

I will post a finished look of my vanity table with a glimpse of my stash.  Soon! Soon! Soon!

goodbye theglowingmom and hello to frecklesspeckles

I decided to shutdown theglowingmom and move over to the frecklesspeckles... I just don't like the blog name. There aren't much followers anyway. Played with blogger templates for a bit... I still need to change the banner. This will do for now.