• makeup collection january 2020

    Makeup Inventory | Jan 2020

    January 8, 2020

    Hi Everyone!

    I thought I would do an update on my makeup collection. I’ve gotten my inventory down to a reasonable number. I think it’s reasonable enough that I don’t feel the need to participate in a Project Pan or 20 in 2020 challenge. I’ve also decided not to do a Low/No Buy this year because I think I can control myself now. I don’t really get swept up in new makeup releases. I might get samples at Sephora, but I don’t feel the need to buy the newest product until I’ve read or watched reviews.

    In 2017 and 2018, I bought a bunch of products from Winners and the Mac Warehouse Sale. I didn’t even do full reviews on most of the items because they were old or discontinued. I did do quick reviews on some makeup items in my mid-year makeup inventory:

    Primers & Foundations | Bronzers | Blushes | Mascaras | Highlighters

    Makeup inventory posts from previous years:

    Dec 2018 | June 2019

    July 2018Dec 2018June 2019Jan 2020
    Primers121174
    Foundations13766
    Concealers11565
    Setting Sprays/Powders111157
    Contour0311
    Bronzers6331
    Blushes14552
    Highlighters13945
    Brows3363
    Eyeshadows129602317
    Eyeliners12923
    Mascara10232
    Lipstick28774
    Lip Liners7540
    Lip Glosses/Tints/Balms10421
    Makeup Removers13142
    Perfumes5453
    Nail Polishes431970
    Total Items34016810066

    My plan is to get my collection down to 50 items by the end of the year. It’s shocking to think that I once had 340 makeup items (this number includes individual eyeshadows). It’s even more alarming to think that I paid for most of those items too. While I have been lucky enough to be sent products over the years, I’m sent more skincare products than makeup. Most of those items were impulse purchases because they were on sale or a good deal.

    What are your makeup plans for 2020?

    Love,

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  • Makeup Inventory | June 2019

    June 21, 2019

    Hi Everyone!

    This time last year, I had 340 makeup products (check out my post). By December of last year, I decluttered a lot and finished quite a few products (check out my post). I cut my collection in half and now my collection is down to 100! I hope to continue streamlining my collection. Maybe next year, I’ll have 50-75 products.

    Primers: 7 (I had 11 in December)

    Setting/Finishing Powders: 5 (8 in Dec)

    Illuminating Powders/Creams: 0 (3 in Dec)

    Foundations: 6 (7 in Dec)

    Concealers/Colour Correctors: 6 (5 in Dec)

    Contour: 1 (3 in Dec)

    Bronzers: 3 (3 in Dec)

    Blushes: 5 (5 in Dec)

    Highlighters: 4 (9 in Dec)

    Brows: 6 (3 in Dec)

    Eyeshadow Pans/Sticks/Creams: 23 (60 in Dec)

    Eyeliners: 2 (9 in Dec)

    Mascaras: 3 (2 in Dec)

    Lipsticks: 7 (7 in Dec)

    Lip Liners: 4 (5 in Dec)

    Lip Glosses/Tints: 2 (4 in Dec)

    Makeup Removers: 4 (1 in Dec)

    Perfume: 5 (4 in Dec)

    Nail Polish: 7 (19 in Dec)

    TOTAL: 100 (170 in Dec)

    How many products are in your collection?

    Love,

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  • Makeup Inventory | Dec 2018

    December 21, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    Today, I’m checking in with my makeup inventory to show you how much progress I’ve made since my Mid-Year Makeup Inventories (click the links below):

    Primers & Foundations | Bronzers | Blushes | Mascaras | Highlighters

    I finished and decluttered half of the items I had in July; mostly decluttered.

    CURRENT MAKEUP INVENTORY

    Primers: 11

    Setting/Finishing Powders: 8

    Illuminating Powders/Creams: 3

    Foundations: 7

    Concealers/Colour Correctors: 5

    Contour: 3

    Bronzers: 3

    Blushes: 5

    Highlighters: 9

    Brows: 3

    Eyeshadow Pans/Sticks/Creams: 60

    Eyeliners: 9

    Mascaras: 2 

    Lipstick: 7

    Lip Liners: 5 

    Lip Glosses/Tints: 4 

    Makeup Removers: 1

    Perfume: 4 

    Nail Polish: 19

    TOTAL: 168 (started with 340 – I finished and decluttered 172 items in the past 5 months)

    I haven’t bought any new products in the following categories since taking Inventory of my collection in July:

    • Blush
    • Bronzer
    • Highlighter (I have a new one, but I didn’t buy it for myself…so it doesn’t count)
    • Illuminating Powders
    • Eyeshadows
    • Lip products (lipstick, balm, gloss, tint, liners)
    • Makeup Remover
    • Perfume
    • Nail Polish

    MAKEUP INVENTORY GOALS

    You’ll remember from my Makeup Goals post, that I set a number for each category of what I should aim for and I said that I wanted to cut my collection in half (which I did!). I hope to continue decreasing the number of items on my collection and maybe reach 100 items by the end of 2019.

    • Primers: 8-10
    • Foundations: 6
    • Concealers/Colour Correctors: 5
    • Setting/Finishing Sprays/Powders & Face Mists: 5
    • Illuminating Powders/Creams: 2
    • Bronzers: 2
    • Blushes: 3
    • Highlighters: 6
    • Brows: 3
    • Eyeshadows: 3 palettes
    • Eyeliners: 5
    • Mascaras: 3
    • Lipstick/Balms: 10
    • Lip Liners: 2
    • Lip Glosses/Tints: 3
    • Makeup Removers: 3
    • Perfumes: 3
    • Nail Polish: 5

    Have you set any makeup goals for yourself or resolutions for the new year?

    Love,

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  • makeup collection concealers fooundations primers

    Makeup Goals | A Streamlined Makeup Collection

    July 20, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    When I was doing my mid-year makeup inventory, I realized just how much makeup I had. It’s kind of ridiculous how much makeup I’ve accumulated in the past two years. 2016 was when I got more into makeup and it was only last year that started buying products like highlighter and bronzer. I went through my collection and counted how much I have of each type of product. I didn’t want to do a mid-year makeup inventory on all of them because let’s be honest, it would’ve taken a long time to swatch and write a mini review for each one. Especially when I don’t necessarily love all of the products I own.

    I’ve decided to set some goals for myself in terms of buying makeup going forward. As I was doing my makeup inventory, I decluttered a few products that were past their expiry date and/or I just wasn’t using (basically just taking up space). Here are some goals that I have decided to apply:

    Goal #1 | For primers, foundations, eyeshadows and makeup brushes – only buy high end ones

    • Foundations
      • Find a few favourite ones with different finishes (powder, cushion, sheer coverage, medium coverage)
      • For liquid foundations- I need to have sampled it a few times and put it through a testing period (like I did with the Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation- read my review) before I take the plunge and buy it.
      • Test them out in-store and see how they look in natural lighting and how it wears for the day

    For the other makeup products, I feel like a mix of high end and drugstore are acceptable. There are some amazing drugstore products that I absolutely love and drugstore foundations are great, but I have trouble finding shade matches and there aren’t always testers in store.

    Goal #2 | Cut down on impulse buying

    I’ll admit that 50% of the time, I am an impulse buyer (especially if there’s a sale). Luckily, most of the items I’ve bought on impulse were okay.

    Goal #3 | Read or watch 3 (or more) positive reviews before making a purchase

    I know this isn’t the best way to tell if I will like something because I might not like something that someone else loves, but it will help cut down the impulse buying too. I’ve bought a few duds (that were planned purchases) because YouTube or Instagram made me buy it (*cough* L’Oréal Lash Paradise *cough*). Before buying a product from now on (especially a drugstore item because you can’t return it once it’s been opened), I will check out some reviews online. Usually, I look at Influenster to see what it’s rating out of 5 is and if it’s rated on their list (i.e. Lash Paradise, the non-waterproof one, is rated #1 in mascaras and 4.56/5). Personally, it’s not my #1 mascara, but I don’t hate it.

    Goal #4 | Keep Track of My Makeup Purchases and Set an Annual Makeup Budget

    This sounds kind of scary, but I think I should set one. Last year, I became a VIB Rouge member at Sephora and I have no idea how that happened. The majority was skincare or makeup tools, but there was a fair share of makeup which is surprising because a lot of my makeup is from the drugstore or Winners. For a lot of products (like makeup brushes or foundation), they may seem expensive, but they last a long time. The initial cost may sting, but once you have it, you don’t need to buy more for a while.

    For my blog, I have a monthly budget ($25) to spend on products that I buy for the blog. I prefer to get drugstore products because that’s the most accssible to everyone. I mean, there are tons of beauty lovers who are students- they can’t necessarily afford to get a Dior foundation or a high end palette.

    GOAL #5 | A Streamlined Makeup Collection

    I was going to plan on a Minimalist Makeup Collection, but after writing the numbers down, I wouldn’t consider what I plan to be a Minimalist Collection. So, we’ll go with a streamlined collection of what I have now. I want to find some favourites that I can always rely on so that I can just buy good, high end products (foundations, concealers, etc.) and not worry about buying all these different products to see what works with my skin type.

    I’ve already shared some of my makeup collection in my mid-year makeup inventory. So, I thought I’d share the numbers with you for the rest of my products. Some of my numbers in this list may be different than the mid-year makeup inventory. This is because I was only counting the products that I had opened at the time. Since then, I have opened a few things and gotten a few deluxe samples. Please keep in mind that not all products are full-sized, but I still counted them as ‘1’. So, here are the inventories for each category:

    • Primers: 12 (includes an under eye primer and eyeshadow primers)
    • Foundations: 13
    • Concealers/Colour Correctors: 11
    • Setting/Finishing Powders & Face Mists: 5
    • Illuminating Powders/Creams: 4
    • Bronzers: 4
    • Blushes: 13
    • Highlighters: 14
    • Brow pencils: 3
    • Eyeshadows: 37
    • Eyeliners: 12
    • Mascaras: 6
    • Lipstick: 25
    • Lip Liners: 7
    • Lip Glosses/Tints: 10
    • Makeup Removers: 10

    I know these aren’t makeup, but I’m going to include them too:

    • Perfume: 5
    • Nail Polish: 43

    I was going to total the whole number of products, but some are double-counted i.e. Bobbi Brown palette has blush, highlighter, bronzer and eyeshadow. Give or take, there are 200 items.

    NEW MAKEUP GOALS & FAVOURITES

    I want to streamline my makeup so that I don’t have 200 items in my drawers. I only have so much space in my room if you include makeup, skincare, hair and nail products. The following numbers are what I hope my collection will go down to once I find favourites in each. Under each category, I have included favourites that I think will be included in my Minimalist Collection.

    • Primers: it’s hard to say a number for this one because you want different primers for different uses (mattifying, illuminating, hydrating, eyeshadow, etc.). I’ll say less than 10 for sure!
    • Foundations: 6 at the most (that should be enough for different finishes and coverage)
    • Concealers/Colour Correctors: 5
    • Setting/Finishing Sprays/Powders & Face Mists: 5
    • Illuminating Powders/Creams: 2
    • Bronzers: 2
    • Blushes: 3 (1 with shimmer, 1 peachy, 1 pink)
    • Highlighters: This is hard to decide because there are so many amazing highlighters out there that are different shades and they can double as eyeshadows (6?)
    • Brows: 3 (2 pencils, 1 gel)
    • Eyeshadows: This is hard to decide too because singles count as 1. I will say that I want at least 2-3 good palettes with matte neutral shades and shimmery shades and I like cream shadows and sticks, so maybe 4-5 of those.
    • Eyeliners: 5
    • Mascaras: 3
    • Lipstick: 10
    • Lip Liners: 2
    • Lip Glosses/Tints: 3
    • Makeup Removers: 3
    • Perfumes: 3
    • Nail Polish: 5

    For all of the categories, they’re estimates of what I think I should own and adding all of those up, it’s about 80 products. So, my goal for next year is to cut my collection in half and maybe I can aim for an even smaller collection for 2020.

    Would you ever streamline your makeup collection?

    Love,

    jen

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  • Review | Essence Light Up Your Face Luminizer Palette

    April 22, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    I’ve posted Make Up Of the Day posts that include the Essence Light Up Your Face Luminizer palette (10 ready, set, glow!) and I’ve been asked about it a few times, so I thought I’d do a review and swatch post on it.

    20180422_160422

    The swatches were done with my fingers. If you follow the facial mapping on the back of the palette, you will get a beautiful, glowy look. I find that the middle shade has shimmer that’s a little more chunky than I would like. But, if you try to use the 1st and 3rd shade as a highlight on the cheekbones, it doesn’t look as nice. I think I will mostly use this palette for my eyes to get a brightened look.

    20180422_174326.jpg

    Luminizer palette with soft highlighter powder textures – all you need for a bright & radiant finish!

    nude highlighter: satin sheer powder with a subtle glow- perfect for everyday radiant appearance

    rosé highlighter: shimmering powder for setting specific luminous highlights- perfect for special events

    golden beige highlighter: pearly powder for adding a soft and warm finish to the complexion

    Jennifer Cath titles(2)

    RATING: 3.5/5

    It’s great for the price, and it’s a very nice highlight palette. I personally prefer powder highlighters that don’t have shimmery chunks and have that wet look because I use the MAC Strobe cream and the white/silver shade in the Coastal Scents Eclipse Palette for an everyday, dewy look. I’d rather pay $6 for one shade instead of getting three different shades that look good for different areas of the face. I’ve read good reviews for the Essence Pure Nude Highlighter and based on swatches I’ve seen, it looks less powdery than these 3 shades.

    Have you tried Essence products? What are your faves?

    Love,

    jen

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  • Review | Coastal Scents Revealed 3 Palette

    April 21, 2018

    Hi Everyone!

    I thought I would do a review and swatches of the Revealed 3 Palette from Coastal Scents. It’s a very nice palette for a beginner. I got this from a TopBox a while back and it’s been great for an everyday eye look. I mostly use the brown/taupe and gold shades. The first two shades are great to set your eyeshadow primer. It has a combo of matte and shimmery shades, but the majority are shimmery.

    The Revealed 3 palette features twenty all-new elegant eye shadows, in a stunning variety of hues and textures. Discover infinite possibilities with a combination of looks, perfect for every eye color.

    Swatches below are without using primer. The top two shades didn’t show up when I swatched them. On the left is the top row of shades, and the right is the bottom row.

    coastal.PNG

    I would suggest doing eyes before your foundation and concealer because the fallout can be quite bad. Sometimes I have to dust off my nose or fluff the shadow out of my hair.

    RATING: 4/5

    It’s not the best palette, but it was the first palette (with more than 4 shades) I ever owned. I mostly used single eyeshadows before and I have trouble deciding on which eyeshadow palette I want to actually purchase. Two of the ones I own were won in giveaways and this one I got from a subscription box. There are so many beautiful palettes out there, how can I decide?

    What palettes do you recommend?

    Love,

    jen

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  • First Impressions with Coastal Scents Winterberry Palette & Shadow Pots

    November 23, 2017

    Hi Everyone!

    Today, I’m reviewing the Coastal Scents Winterberry Palette and a few Shadow Pots that I purchased. I previously received the Coastal Scents Revealed 3 Eyeshadow Palette in a TopBox so I knew that the shadows were pretty good (for a beginner). In the Revealed 3 Palette, some shadows were better than others which is also the case for the Winterberry Palette and Shadow Pots that I purchased. The 5 shadow pots I purchased looked beautiful in the pan, but when I swatched them (without primer), they were a bit disappointing. When you swatch them with primer and/or wet your brush to apply, the pigment improves, but it takes some time until you get the shade you want. This wasn’t the case for the Winterberry shades, most of them were beautiful even without primer or having to wet the brush.

    20171121_055536

    For the shadow pots, I purchased greens, teals and blues. I wanted to get some fun colours, but ones that I’d actually wear. Reds, oranges and yellows wouldn’t go well with my skin tone, I think I would just look ill.

    20171121_055651.jpg

    Clockwise from top left: Fresh Chive | Electric Blue | Jewel Teal | Indigo Dream

    Teal Green is not pictured because it broke a bit during the shipping process, so I fixed it with some alcohol, but it didn’t look very presentable.

    Below are swatches without primer (using my fingers to swatch).

    Originally, I wanted to get the empty palette with a mirror that fits 12 shadows for $5.95, but I thought, “For $4 more, I could get 12 eyeshadows that are all really pretty purple/wintery shades.” So I chose the Winterberry palette instead of the Think Pink one because how often will I use pink eyeshadows. Once you finish the shadows, you can replace them with other 26mm pans. The palette itself contains built-in magnets and gives you easy access at the upper-right corner of each pan to take out the pans (I can easily use my finger to take out the pans).

    20171121_060235

    Top Row: Light Pink | Silver Lilac | Light Plum | White Silver

    Middle Row: Mauve Frost | Amethyst | Steel Grey | Thulian Pink

    Bottom Row: Tyrian Purple | Lavender | Raisin Berry | Regalia Purple

    After trying the single shadow pots first, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the ones in this palette. But the Winterberry shades are much creamier and a lot more pigmented than the singles ones I purchased. For the greens/teals/blues, I had to dip my finger back into the pot a few times just to get the swatch that colour. For the Winterberry ones, I just had to do it once or twice (just to get it to cover the length of the swatch). Out of the 12 shades, 3 of them aren’t as pigmented and metallic looking as the rest. For $9.95, I think it’s a really good palette, the shades are gorgeous and the swatches are what the shades look like without primer. The 9 other shades feel super creamy and are very pigmented. The shades that I probably wouldn’t purchase individually are: Light Pink, Light Plum, Tyrian Purple and Regalia Purple (which is a shame because all of them, especially Regalia Purple are beautiful in the pan).

    RATING: 4/5 for the Winterberry Palette

    RATING: 3.5/5 for the Shadow Pots

    The Winterberry Palette gets 4/5 because the majority of the shades are beautiful and pigmented, the others just need a bit of help by wetting your brush. The Shadow Pots get 3.5/5 because they are pretty, but it takes some time to get the colour you see in the pan. Definitely use a shadow primer and wet your brush! For the price right now though (even when it’s regular priced), they’re amazing for beginners or if you just want to get some funky colours!

    For my fellow Canadians, shipping is not free for us, but luckily there’s NO extra fees (COD) after you’ve paid at checkout.

    What are your fave shades from Coastal Scents?

    Love,

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