Tag Archives: beauty

MERIT Solo Shadow – First Impressions & Thoughts

On August 22nd, MERIT launched their new matte eye colour product, Solo Shadow, and their new dual ended eyeshadow brush, Brush No. 2.

It’s no surprise that MERIT is one of my all time favourite clean make-up brands. Known for their noncomedogenic products and beautiful packaging, they pride themselves on being the antidote to the oversaturated world of beauty. This minimalist beauty brand has been incredibly successful in creating products that are safe for the body, skin and planet. This is why I and many other make-up enthusiasts alike have truly fallen head over heels for everything MERIT launches.

I was over the moon when MERIT reached out to me and let me in on the details for this launch. I was looking to get rid of many of the eyeshadow palettes I’ve owned because they were either expired or contained too many ingredients that I felt were harmful to my health. While I have had many of these palettes for at least a year or more, something I noticed is that I never truly hit pan on many of the colours in the products.

As someone who likes to typically only use one to two colours at most when I use eyeshadow, palettes that contained four or more colours often felt unnecessary to me. With MERIT launching a line of “solo” eyeshadows, the overwhelm I had when it came to eyeshadow palettes was finally eliminated.

Let’s talk first impressions on the packaging:

Gorgeous as always, and timeless as ever – but that’s no surprise coming from MERIT. Along with the Solo Shadow and No. 2 brush, they also sent over their Clean Lash lengthening mascara, which I’ve always wanted to try. I especially love the gold touches on the Solo Shadow and Clean Lash which truly encapsulates the luxe feeling that the brand wants to portray and provide its customers with.

Now, onto the performance of the products themselves…

Solo Shadow: Described as a buildable, cream-to-powder shadow for a soft-matte wash of colour, I was curious to find out how this eyeshadow was going to apply. I feel that you don’t hear the word “cream” and “matte” in the same description very often but that’s exactly what this eyeshadow does. The shade I chose, “Midcentury” is a warm brown that I was excited to see on my olive, medium tan skin. When I first picked up the colour onto the brush, I did notice its cream-like texture that was incredibly easy to blend. You also can totally blend the product out with your finger.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that once the pigment was on my eyelid, it looked as if it was a matte textured shadow in the first place. I think this cream-to-powder texture perfectly combines the blendability of a standalone cream formula and the versatility of a matte finish. The solo shadow truly is the best of both! In terms of the amount of pigment, I loved that you can apply a small amount if you’re looking for just a subtle amount of colour or you could totally add more and build the amount of pigment to your preference.

No. 2 brush: I loved that this is a dual ended brush that can help you achieve whatever eyeshadow look. you are going for. The fluffy end is perfect for diffusing colour across the lid and the tapered end is great for applying eyeshadow along the lash line. This brush is made from extra-soft vegan bristles that are gentle on sensitive skin. For a brush that’s pretty compact, the densely packed bristles deposit just the right amount of product for easy, buildable coverage.

I truly love everything about this eyeshadow and brush! The Solo Shadow currently comes in 4 neutral shades and 4 wearable colours. You’ve got a beautiful range of shades to pick from beautiful browns and beiges and mauve, green, and navy.

If you’d like to try out the Solo Shadow, No. 2 brush, and Clean Lash, be sure to use my link! Every first MERIT purchase comes with their signature bag and all orders over $40 get free shipping. I’d love to hear your thoughts on these new products, and I hope you genuinely love them as much as I do.

All the love,

Ainah

Rare Beauty Review From A College Beauty Blogger

With one of the content pillars of my blog revolving around beauty content, I’m always on the hunt for the best make-up products in the beauty market. Over the past couple of months, I have been able to try Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch Liquid Blush and their Kind Words Matte Lip Liner. I’ve been thoroughly impressed with both of these products, and have decided that I’d share my thoughts on them.

Let’s kick things off with the Kind Words Matte Lip Liner. I love that this creamy, versatile lip liner comes in a variety of different shades ranging from neutral nudes to bold reds. As mentioned, the formula is so creamy and glides on the lips like a dream. It is super easy to use in order to create the perfect outline for your lips. Additionally, this lip liner is long lasting, so you won’t have to worry about constantly re-applying it throughout the day.

As much as I have enjoyed Rare beauty’s lip liner, I have completely fallen in love with their Soft Pinch Liquid Blush. I have been using the shade “Bliss” and hope to try out more shades in the near future. Available in both cream and liquid formulas, Rare Beauty has ensured that their blushes come in a selection of shades that are suitable for any skin tone.

What I love most about this blush is how pigmented it is! Ask any beauty blogger their thoughts on this blush, and I can 100% guarantee that they will say that “A little goes a long way.” Like their lip liner, the formula in this blush is a dream to blend – a small dot on each skin is enough to give you a healthy and radiant glow. I’d recommend applying the product with your fingers to ensure that it spreads evenly and blends seamlessly with your skin.

While the products that I have tried from Selena Gomez’ make-up line have been first class so far, I wanted to share an aspect about the Rare Beauty brand I love – their commitment to mental health and embracing one’s imperfections.

Whenever you purchase a product from Rare Beauty, you are not only treating yourself (or a loved one) to a high-performing product, but you also support a brand that is on an incredible mission to increase access to mental health resources.

With care & joy,

Ainah

Bibliography:

Kind words matte lip liner. Rare Beauty. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.rarebeauty.com/products/kind-words-matte-lip-liner

Rare beauty by Selena Gomez: Vegan & cruelty free makeup. Rare Beauty. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.rarebeauty.com/

Soft pinch liquid blush. Rare Beauty. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.rarebeauty.com/products/soft-pinch-liquid-blush

Clean Beauty Products I Want To Try

After learning about how the chemicals in my skincare and make-up can negatively affect my hormones, I decided to gradually switch to beauty and skin products that are formulated with clean ingredients about two years ago.

Today, I thought I’d share some clean beauty products I have my eye on. Who knows, maybe I’ll be adding some of these into my Sephora cart soon!

  1. MERIT Beauty | Brow 1980 Voluminizing Pomade in the shade “Soft Black”
  2. ILIA Beauty | Balmy Gloss Tinted Lip Oil in the shade “Only You”
  3. Saie | Glowy Super Gel in the shade “Sunglow”
  4. Tower 28 | SunnyDays Lightweight Foundation

I love the aesthetics of the packaging that all these products have and have heard lots of good things about these items. I’ll definitely share when I get to try these out!

With care & joy,

Ainah

Kristian Schuller for Vogue India (2017)

For Vogue India’s 10th anniversary issue in 2017, Vogue India commissioned photographer, Kristian Schuller, to photograph couture pieces by designers in which they were employed to create looks inspired by one of the 29 states in India.

Team Credits

Photographer: Kristian Schuller // Creative Diretor: Peggy Schuller // Fashion Stylists: Priyanka Kapadia & Anaita Adajania // Set Designer: Peggy Schuller // Model: Pritika Swarup

TUSH Magazine’s Scarfschützen

I wanted to showcase this specific editorial, because of its styling. The first image of the editorial from TUSH Magazine’s editorial titled, “Scarfschützen,” utilizes face-paint to replicate the Pucci patterned headscarf on the face that creates a camouflage effect that highlights the eyes of the model.

Keep on scrolling to see the rest of the images!

Photography Style

I am a great admirer of photographers who are able to use simple setups to create impactful images. In fashion, the impact relies on the model and their ability to–basically–sell the clothes they are wearing.

The photography style is very much like Richard Avedon and Steven Meisel where the simple backdrop is utilized. However, what makes these images look so angelic and soft is the use of diffused light that spreads evenly across the image: minimizing shadows and highlights.

Notice the basic backdrops and how they bring focus to the models and the fashion.

Team Credits

Photographer: Armin Morbach // Hair: Stelli // Make-up: Loni Baur // Fashion Stylist: Arthur Mayadoux // Body-paint: Milla De Wet // Models: Emily Liptow & Lia Marie (Modelwerk), Samuel (Iconic Management) // Photo Retouch: Sebastian Reuter // Digital Operator: Bastian Achard // Photo Assistant: Alex Craddock & Simon Stock // Make-up Assistant : Melanie Krieg // Styling Assistant: Mathilde Chaize

Perfumes

I just realized I’ve never talked about what perfumes I love. I have only used a few perfumes in my life so I know which brand is my favourite. I have really only used Bonpoint perfume, Elizabeth & James, Chloe and Gucci Bloom.

I have NEVER finished a perfume in my life, but when I got the ‘Chloe’ perfume it was like my life was changed forever. This was my new scent and everyone complimented me on it. It had become my favourite scent I’ve ever used. I have used the ‘Chloe’ perfume since grade 7 and haven’t wanted to change it since.

I got a new perfume for Christmas and I never thought I would ever want to use another perfume. My backup for my ‘Chloe’ perfume is my rollerball version of the ‘Chloe’ so I’ve never ventured out. The new perfume I got was the ‘Gucci Bloom’ perfume and the second I smelt it, I was in love. This perfume is now my backup to the ‘Chloe’ perfume and I will use it if my other perfume runs out.

I would definitely suggest the ‘Chloe’ perfume and ‘Gucci Bloom’ because they both smell amazing on anyone and they last for such a long time.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading and try either of these perfumes!

xx

My favourite makeup remover

No matter I put on makeup or not, I use makeup remover to clean my face before using the cleansers everyday. Personally, I think this step is really important to make sure that there is no dust on my face. Today, I will share my favourite makeup remover- cleansing water and cleansing oil with you guys. Usually, I use cleansing water when I don’t have my eyelash extensions; if not, I use the cleansing oil (I heard that the cleansing oil is better on removing dust compare to the cleansing water).

Bioderma Sensibio H2O

  • Bioderma has made the cleansing water for different type of skin, you guys can check it out on its website! Also, sometimes Shoppers Drug Store has a pretty good deal-I believe it’s 2 for $30 (approximately) for Bioderma! Give it a try if you are interested in trying this product!

Bobbi Brown soothing cleansing oil

I know there are many different choices for the makeup remover in the market nowadays; however, Bioderma and Bobbi Brown are recently my top ones!! If you guys have other suggestions for the makeup remover, please share with me! I would love to hear it!! ❤

Changing your makeup for Summer

Change your makeup like you change your style for every season. Sometimes people don’t remember to change how they do their makeup for each season. I’m not saying to change it for fall, winter, spring and summer. I’m saying that if you have a makeup routine for the winter climate, you’re going to need to change it for the summer climate. Here are some tips on how to make the change easy.

  1. Don’t use as much face makeup. This is important because people may load up on the foundation, concealer and powder during the winter time because they can and there is no chance it will sweat off. Now that we are moving into the warm weather, wearing that much face makeup can be dangerous because it is super easy for it to sweat off. My advice would be to either use a BB cream so it is a lighter product that you are putting on your face or to just use concealer on your face. I suggest using these products because it is less stuff on your face and if it is super-hot ,you don’t have a lot of product sinking into your pores.
  2. Also I would suggest on using a serum instead of a moisturizer. I would use serum because personally, I find it less thick then moisturizer and it makes you look dewier then what you would naturally look like.
  3. A lot of people probably think I would suggest changing your normal makeup to waterproof makeup. I WOULD NOT! I personally hate waterproof makeup and I would never suggest it just because I feel like it never comes off. Obviously if you feel like it is necessary to wear makeup if you are going swimming or just hanging out by the beach then you do you. I would honestly just say to go out without makeup if you are confident enough.
  4. Sunscreen before putting on makeup or make sure your face products have SPF in them.

I know I don’t have a lot tips but these are the main ones that I think are the most important. Hope you guys have learnt something and decide to change up your makeup routine for spring/summer.

Thank you for reading!

xx

Peer Review 3 – The Honest Skincare Guide

If you’re interested in skincare or new to skincare and wish to get honest product reviews and recommendations, tobi’s routine is the place for you.

Design and content

Tobi uses the Savona Theme which has a minimalistic and chic design. I like that she uses a simple design where there aren’t many distractions, my focus goes directly to her content when I clicked onto her website. There are plenty of white spaces to balance out the heavier focus. It’s comfortable to browse through her website, not only because her content is interesting, but there’s also a unity of design present on her website. The colours she used on her website is mainly black and white, even for the photos she picked, they are all in white backgrounds. This makes the whole blog looks harmonic and clean due to the consistency of colour. The only colours that appeared on the website are the photos of the beauty products. This allows the content to stand out and it’s the first thing that catches my attention when I read through her blog.

Tobi’s blog is user-friendly. She clearly listed out the categories in her main menu, which is very accessible for users. There are search, recent posts, recent comments, archives and categories on the sidebar. I could easily navigate and search for a particular post.

Content

Tobi always includes an excerpt, so readers will know what the post is mainly about before clicking into it. Reading through her posts, she always includes some skincare tips and her experiences, it makes readers feel relatable. I like that there are three related posts on the bottom of each post which I think can make the website more engaging and attract readers to stay longer on the website.

Audience

Tobi’s blog is a place for people who are interested in skin care and are looking for honest reviews. She shares good recommendations for products that are suitable for young girls and don’t have specific skin concerns. There are plenty of beauty bloggers out there but I think what Tobi did to stand out from the crowd is that she includes her first-hand experiences and reviews for her audiences.

Many of the beauty reviews on YouTube are usually sponsored content, viewers thus don’t know whether the products are really that worthy or are that just for the sake of earning money, as many influences nowadays rely on ad revenue to keep their blogs/channels going. In one of the weekly readings – The Toast Is Toast: Literary Humor Site Shuts Down Over Ad Revenue Woes by Shelby Carpenter, she mentioned that online revenues have a huge impact on both big and small sites. Using ads is one of the common ways for websites to reach their target audiences. Reading the ad-free tobi’s routine, I know that all her content are truthful and reliable. When influencers nowadays rely on ad revenue for a living, they do not enjoy the autonomy that Tobi enjoys, where she can write about anything she likes.

Last week, we had Monique Sherrett from Boxcar Media TBC sharing about marketing, monetisation, audience and analytics. She talks about the SMART objectives and the customer journey.  I will share about my customer journey as a visitor to Tobi’s blog.

  1. Awareness – I know about this site because of PUB101. I think it would be great if Tobi can include her social links on the blog as well, such as Instagram and Facebook. I think it will increase the site traffic if she includes her website in any of her social networks. I’m sure people are interested in beauty product reviews!
  2. Engagement – There aren’t many comments on her blog posts but I can feel that Tobi is working hard to connect with her audiences. She uses “I” and “you” quite often in her blog post, like in the What’s exfoliating, she reminds audiences about the cautions of using scrubs. The way she writes make readers feel like we’re close to her, even if we don’t really know her in person. I think this is a good way to interact and bring her readers closer to her life and style.
  3. Retention – I definitely had a great first experience and I will definitely return to this website in the future. Keep it up! 🙂

Overall, it is a website worth visiting and I look forward to seeing more beauty tips from Tobi!

The post Peer Review 3 – The Honest Skincare Guide appeared first on lily in stripes.

My Recent Favourite “Skin Moisturized” Products

“Women are made by water.”

I really agree to this famous Chinese quote that is spread through so many generations. Therefore, I decide to share my recent favourites daily products that I use to keep my skin hydrated with you guys!

Usually, I categorized my “skin” into three parts- lip, hads and the whole body. As I mentioned in the previous posts, I have oily face-skin type; however, other than my face, the other parts of my skin are very dry. In this circumstance, myself extremely care about “hydrating” my skins everyday after showering or before going to bed.

So, let me share with you guys what I usually apply to my skins!

  1. Vaseline Intensive Care Dry Skin Repair Lotion
Vaseline Body Lotion
  • I really love the smell and texture of this product. It doesn’t have the strong smell and it is super hydrating. When I apply it on my skin, it doesn’t feel thick or oily at all. I really recommend this lotion to you guys if you also have the sry skin!! Also, I usually buy it from Costco, it has 3 bottles in a set and only costs 8.99 CAD. (Why not buying it with this SUPER HIGH CP value???!)

2. Gabrielle Chanel Moisturizing Body Lotion

Chanel Body Lotion
  • This lotion I personally think that it is a little expensive. I received this product  from my friend for my birthday. Although the price might be the reason that people dislike it, actually I personally really like it. The texture is very light and it has the very acceptable “girly smell.” If you guys think the price is affordable, give it a try!

3. L’occitane Shea Butter Intensive Hand Balm

L’occitane Hand Care
  • As you can see, it contains 25% of Shea butter in this hand cream which really moisturized my hands. Especially, Vancouver has dry winter, I can’t live without this hand cream. Some people would think it is too thick for them, I would suggest to apply this product every night before going to the bed if you feel uncomfortable with the oily texture!

4. Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

Laneige Lip Mask
  • I have to admit that I have a bad personal habit. That is, I like to pear off the dead (outer) skin (bark) on my lip. With this bad habit, my lip sometimes will slip and bleed for a bit. Therefore, I have to put on this lip sleeping mask before I go to bed every night to keep my lip hydrated. It’s the berry flavour (not the strong one tho!) and I personally really love it!!!

Holy Grail Makeup Products

So I know I have posted my makeup routine on here but I want to change it up a bit and just show you guys my absolute fav products. I don’t necessarily wear all of these products every single day, but they are products I could never live without.

A good concealer is everything to me. This is in my daily makeup routine and I don’t think I could live without it. Even the days where I have the worst bags under my eyes, it still somehow covers all the darkness.

Mascara has been one of the toughest products for me to find. I have gone through so many whether it be drug store or high end. I could never find one that did my lashes any justice until I found this one. It makes my eyelashes so long and the effects of it last all day.

I don’t know if you would consider this a makeup product, but I use it in my makeup routine. I use this as a prime/moisturizer to make my skin look shimmery and dewy. It is not a primer but I just love the way it makes my skin look. I use it before I put anything else on my face just to make me look I have a natural glow. I think it’s important sometimes to have a little bit of a glow, it just makes you look a bit more sunkissed and fresh.

Last but not least, a beauty blender. This isn’t a product but it is a tool I could not live without. It makes me look airbrushed and natural, and I use it for almost everything. I use it for my foundation, concealer, blush, bronzer & highlight. I have never used any other tool except this one and it is by far the best thing ever.

I know I don’t have that many “holy grail” products but I find that less is more. These are the products I would take with me no matter what and I would be happy to just have these in my makeup bag.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading and check some of these products out!

xx