This week I'm obsessed with... Nudestix Nudies Matte All Over Face Blush Color!

Winter means two things: my skin gets thirstier and powder makeup becomes my enemy. Anything powder just sits on dry skin and highlights all my life choices - so I switch to cream products whenever the temperature drops. Extra moisture? Yes please! Looking shiny like I ran a marathon? Hard no. Enter this little overachiever: 

 

Nudestix Nudies Matte All Over Face Blush Color - $44 - in 10 shades: Bare Back - cool nude, Bubba - warm bubble-gum pink, Cherie - neutral nude rose, In The Nude - neutral nude, Moodie Blu - deep eggplant, Naughty N' Spice - dusty rose nude, Nude Peach - soft peachy coral, Picante - orange-coral, Sunkissed Pink - cool pink and my absolute fave: Sunset Strip - soft coral nude (pictured). 

 

It's a creamy blush that gives you that healthy flush that says “well-rested” even when everyone would otherwise know that I am absolutely lying about that!

 

The formula is creamy, blendable and buildable - swipe it on lightly for a subtle glow or layer it up when you want your cheeks to look alive again. And because it’s an all-over stick, you can dab it on cheeks, eyelids and lips for a chic monochromatic look that only takes 30 seconds and looks very put together. 

 

Now let’s talk packaging, because Nudestix did not come to play! This dual-ended stick includes the blush and a detachable blending brush in a metal case which also has a mirror. It’s basically a makeup minimalist’s dream and perfect for travel, touch-ups or emergency situations that call for a quick pick-me-up. 

 

 Bonus bragging rights: it’s vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free and fragrance-free and formulated without parabens, sulfates or phthalates. 

 

Moisturizing, matte, multi-use and low-maintenance - the winter MVP your makeup bag deserves!

 

Available at Shoppers Drug Mart and Sephora stores across Canada and online at nudestix.ca, beauty.shoppersdrugmart.ca, sephora.ca and well.ca.

 

- Lisamarie - 

Great Gifting - Skincare Sets from Ole Henriksen, Nudestix and Trinny London!

If you are looking to try out new skincare or get travel sizes of your favourites, this is the best time of the year to do it - everyone has a gift set of some kind! They probably also make great gifts (if you like that kind of thing) so be sure to gift someone (like yourself) with one of these:

 

Ole Henriksen Radiance Retreat Skincare Favorites Set - $86 - has everything you need for a winter spa-cation:  Banana Bright Vitamin C Serum - 15ml - brightens and visibly evens skin; Strength Trainer Peptide Boost Moisturize - 50ml - to hydrate and strengthen skin; and Banana Bright+ Eye Crème - 15ml -  to reduce the look of dark circles and crow’s feet - all vegan, gluten-free, cruelty-free - and come inside this adorable house packaging! 

 

Available at Sephora stores across Canada and online at sephora.ca.

Nudestix Nudeskin 3-Step Citrus Renew Set - $39 - a collection of travel-size essentials for everything you need to get glowing skin on the go: Gentle Hydra-Gel Cleanser 3-in-1: Skin Cleanser + Skin Softener + Skin Brightener; Lemon-Aid Detox & Glow Micro-Peel 3-in-1: Deep Pore Cleanser + Cell Renewal Exfoliant + Skin Brightening Glow; and Citrus C Mask & Daily Moisturizer 3-in-1; Day & Night Moisturizer + Makeup Primer + Sleeping Mask - packed inside a clear carrying case - to cleanse, exfoliate and hydrate the skin with simple, multi-tasking, vegan powered, cruelty-free skincare for a boost of fresh beauty that is free from sulfates, phthalates, gluten, parabens, synthetic fragrances and alcohol and is great for all skin types including sensitive skin.

 

Available at Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canada and online at beauty.shoppersdrugmart.ca.

Trinny London Superheros Serum Set - $128 - features starter sizes of: Plump Up Peptide+ HA Serum - 10ml - an advanced peptide and hyaluronic acid serum that is clinically proven to visibly firm and lift for plump, hydrated, bouncy skin; Boost Up 30% Vitamin C Serum - 9.5ml - a glow-giving Vitamin C serum that is clinically proven to dial up brightness and boost radiance while evening skin tone; and Overnight Sensation Retinal+ Serum - 9.5ml- a high-dose retinol night serum that firms, tones and visibly reduces the appearance of wrinkles to bring energy and life back to skin that’s lost its oomph - all  inside an exclusive Mini Chepstow bag.

Available online at trinnylondon.com/ca.

- Lisamarie -

Effortless summer beauty in 3 easy steps from Nudestix, Scentuals and Avon!

With the hot weather coming it's time to pare down my beauty routine to a few essential products that are quick, easy to use and fix my most pressing beauty issues with as little time and effort as possible:

Nudestix Nudies Tinted Blur Stick - 6.12g - $33 - in 10 shades: Light 1 - ivory with a cool pink undertone, Light 2 - light beige with a neutral undertone, Light 3 - light beige with a warm undertone, Medium 4 - medium beige with a warm undertone, Medium 5 - medium beige with a golden undertone, Medium 6 - medium beige with a cool undertone, Medium 7 - golden tan with a cool undertone, Deep 8 - golden tan with a neutral undertone, Deep 9 - rich tan with a golden undertone, Deep 10 - rich tan with a neutral undertone - with a lightweight, cream-to-powder finish and innovative, soft-focus mineral technology that creates flawless-looking skin by smoothing and blurring the appearance of texture, blemishes, discoloration, lines and pores.

The tinted, light-reflecting minerals soften the appearance of uneven skin tone to provide a youthful, diffused glow while the shade-adjusting pigments blend with the real skin tone coming through to naturally tint the skin - for skin that will look and feel like your own, but better.

Match it to your skin's shade for all-over tinted coverage or as a blurring primer, go lighter to highlight or deeper to contour and define your features - just draw and blend!

Available at Sephora and sephora.ca.

Scentuals Lip & Cheek Tint - $9.95 -in 4 shades: Sultry, Flirt, Passion and Bombshell - with a  100% natural formula infused with shea and cocoa butters along with coconut oil to nourish and protect and is paraben, petroleum and gluten-free - while natural mineral pigments brighten and tint - a quick swipe on the lips and cheeks is the perfect way to hydrate and brighten lips and cheeks.

Available at stores across Canada - to find one near you check out: https://www.scentuals.com/ca/where-to-buy- as well as to purchase online.

If waterproof mascara is a summer must-have but you are sick of traditional waterproof mascaras which contain solvent-based polymers that are very difficult to remove so require special make up removers - then you are going to love:

Avon Wash-Off Waterproof Mascara - $10 - with an ophthalmologist-tested, hypoallergenic formula containing unique emulsion technology that stays on all day through swimming, showering and summer sports but is easily removable with soap and water.

Available from your Avon rep - 1-800-265-AVON or online at avon.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Eye Love Wednesday - Nudestix Magnetic Matte Eye Color

Nudestix Magnetic Matte Eye Color - $24 - in 10 shades: Terra, Putty, Fig, Chocolate, Slate, Taupe, Army, Cocoa, Moon, Night - with waterproof 24-hour wear that goes on soft, are easy to blend and provide intense colour, precise lining and primes lids for all-day wear.

I like them because they are really so  super-easy to use - the light shades are ideal primers for my oily lids while the dark shades make quick work of a smokey eye!

Available at Sephora and sephora.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Nudestix Intense Matte Lip + Cheek Pencil - with swatches!

Nudestix Intense Matte Lip + Cheek Pencil - $28 - in 8 shades of nudes and reds: Entice - pale neutral nude, Tame - nude with a hint of mauve, Belle - plum nude, Kiss - just kissed nude, Purity - natural flesh nude, Raven - edgy deep red, Royal - classic bold red, Stiletto - sexy red - with intense pigment and a soft, ultra-long-wearing, non-drying matte formula that is a lipstick, lip liner, and cheek blush all-in-one pencil.

Belle

It promises 6 hours of budge-proof wear and since nude is easy enough to keep on your face I decided to give it a real challenge and take Royal for a whirl - here it is after about 5 hours. The colour has faded a bit around the edges and there is a tiny bit of bleeding on the top but overall I'm impressed, it wore well and didn't dry out so it still felt comfortable.

And since matte shades tend to be unforgiving of any lip flaws a primer is your best friend - so for a perfect application start with the Nudestix Blur Pencil!

Available now at Sephora and sephora.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Keep your summer glow going with Nudestix, The Body Shop and James Read!

Nudestix Bronzing Pencil - $28 - in Terra/Brown Sugar and Earth/Golden Sugar - an easy-to-use and waterproof, dual-ended bronzer pencil for sunkissed skin. Featuring a luminous shade on one end and a matte bronzing shade on the other making it easy to colour, highlight, and contour the face for a sunkissed, sculpted appearance that dries to a silky powder finish and  stays put for up to eight hours.

Available at Sephora and sephora.ca.

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Face Gel - 25ml - $15 - with a light, non-greasy formula that offers an instant, bronze glow with a moisturizing, honey-enriched gel that suits all skin tones. The colour is subtle and will show up more if you are fair or just add some glowing depth to your skin tone if you are darker - either way, it's a light, pretty way to get some colour in your face!

Available at The Body Shop stores across Canada and online at www.thebodyshop.ca.

James Read Self Tan Express Glow Mask for Face - 50ml - $46 - a quick-acting tanning mask for the face that leaves skin hydrated with a beautiful light golden glow after 30 minutes or with deeper colour after 60 minutes - that will continue to deepen even after the mask is washed off - for skin that is left ultra-hydrated, radiant, and bronzed.

Available at Sephora and sephora.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Blur your way to skin perfection with Garnier, The Body Shop and Nudestix!

Garnier BB Cream + Blur - 40ml - $19.99 - available in a Light-Medium shade that offers all the tone evening benefits of a BB cream, the hydration of a moisturizer with the added benefit of a smoothing effect with a hint of perfecting primer, to blur wrinkles, pores and imperfections, reduce the appearance of shine, fine lines and to give skin a soft and velvety feel with a matte finish.

Available now at drug and mass retailers across Canada.

The Body Shop Wonderblur - 30ml - $25 - with a lightweight formula that instantly smooths skin texture, visibly reducing fine lines and pores for an even, flawless finish while offering 12 hour hydration. 

Formulated with Edelweiss stem cells and enriched with Community Fair Trade Babassu Oil

Available at The Body Shop and thebodyshop.ca.

Nudestix Blur Pencil - $28 - in a convenient pencil format that instantly blurs lines, creases and pores for smoother-looking skin texture making the complexion look flawless.

Available at Sephora and sephora.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Mascara Monday - GOSH Xtreme Mascara

GOSH Xtreme Mascara - $16 - with an intense black formula that provides lashes with maximum volume, length and definition for an  effortless false lash look!

Available now exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart.

The soft fiber brush and its triangular shape gives lashes a spectacular false lash effect with easy application.

With a rich, thick and wet formula that dries quickly allowing you to benefit from the best of both worlds without smudging or crusting.

I like the thick, wet formula a lot but I don't think it dries that quickly - while applying I ended up with little smears of mascara all over my eyelids - normally I wait for mascara smudges to dry and scrape them off but I have found a much easier and instantly gratifying way to take care of them:

Nudestix Clean-Up Pencil - $28 -  a portable makeup pencil that instantly removes even long-lasting and oil-based makeup blunders with just a swipe and a wipe.

Available now at Sephora and sephora.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Easy contouring and highlighting with a stick from Clinique, Nudestix and Tarte!

You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that the big thing in beauty these days is contouring! The whole process can seems daunting, especially with some of the kits having half a dozen different contouring shades sure can make it seem complicated! So keep things simple and stick to one contouring shade and one highlighting shade and you'll be saying hello to the cheekbones you never knew you had in no time!

Don't know where to start? Just suck in your cheeks - a swipe of contouring goes in the hallow that appears underneath, a bit of highlighting goes on top of the cheeks and then just blend away! Fingers are the best tool for this, the heat from your skin will warm the cream and help it blend smoothly.

Here are a few of the latest and greatest in stick contouring and highlighting:

Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Contour and Sculpting Highlight - $24 - offers smooth, dewy and mistake application in stick form - contours by creating enhanced depth and definition while the highlight contains pearlized, light-reflecting pigments to add a luminous sheen that makes features appear more prominent in the prettiest of ways.

Available now at Clinique counters across Canada.

Nudestix Sculpting Pencil - $28 - in 2 shade duos: Contour - medium/Highlight - light and Contour - deep/Highlight - medium - a dual-ended, matte cream sculpting pencil that provides long-wearing, blendable coverage in shades that are ideal for highlighting and contouring features and infused with skin-conditioning and moisturizing ingredients like shea butter and vitamin E. The double ended pencil makes it easy to contour and highlight in one go - accentuating your best features for a barely-there, fresh-faced look with a natural finish that evens the look of your skintone.

Available now at Sephora, sephora.ca, Space NK and Urban Outfitters.

Tarte The Sculptor Contouring Face Slenderizer - $29 - in 3 shades: Park Avenue Princess, Park Avenue Princess 2 - medium and Park Avenue Princess 3 - medium to tan - a contouring and sculpting stick with a lightweight, non-sticky colour that blends flawlessly into all skintones and highlights the face for a slimmer look and create the illusion of high, chiseled cheekbones in seconds - also great for slimming the neck, jawline, and nose.

Available exclusively at Sephora and sephora.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Great Gifting - Nudestix #Giltylove Holiday Kit!

It's that wonderful time of the year when all our favourite brands start to offer up their holiday gift sets! So be sure to check back every Monday at 10am from now until Christmas to see which one I am lusting after this week - right now it's:

Nudestix #Giltylove Holiday Kit - $55 - includes 3 Magnetic Eye Colours in Twilight, Gilt and Night - that can be used as an eye primer, shadow, liner, or highlighter along with a pencil sharpener all housed in a collectable limited-edition tin with mirror.

You'll love the pencils for their mess free application and the formula which is soft and super-gliding and ideal for oily lids.

Available now at Sephora and sephora.ca.

- Lisamarie -

Eye Love Wednesday - one swipe gold eyeshadow from Nudestix, Eddie Funkhouser and Hard Candy!

Strangely for a beauty blogger, I am super lazy when it comes to day-to-day makeup - if it can't get on my face in the 5 minutes that I allow for makeup application it isn't happening. Which should mean that eyeshadow is a no-go in my daily makeup routine - and that would be terrible because a little colour on the eyelids can fool everyone into thinking that I got a much better night's sleep then I sometimes do. The best shade I've found to perk up and add polish is gold, along with format that goes on in one step and you have the recipe to quick and beautiful shadow - a few of my fave easy gold shadows are:

Nudestix Magnetic Eye Color in Gilt - $28 - a long-wearing, neutral, all-in-one eye shadow pencil that highlights and delivers intense color, precise lining, and primes lids for all day wear. With a soft and super-gliding formula, it offers easy-to-blend, neutral eye color with even payoff. Being waterproof and crease proof, it’s perfect for oily lids and the neutral shades available create a fresh-faced, nude makeup look that suits all skintones.

It's also available in 7 other neutral shades including black since I know you'll love this one so much that you'll want to build a whole wardrobe of them!

Available now at Sephora and sephora.ca.

Eddie Funkhouser Chromographic Eye Gloss in Afterglow - $12 - delivers a sheer burst of prismatic iridescent gold pigments with a radiant and dewy finish. Formula contains aloe vera to soothe irritation, vitamin E to condition and prevent dryness, vitamin C to instantly brighten skin as it neutralizes free radicals; and vitamin A to neutralize free radicals.

Also comes in 2 other shades - a peach or a lavender - can be mixed with pigments for some crazy cool effects or even worn under your regular eyeshadow as a base with a bit of a kick!

Available online at www.eddiefunkhouser.com.

Hard Candy Shadowholic 12HR Waterproof Eye Crayon in Blondie - $4.98 - offers an easy to use and precise application pencil format combined with a long-wearing, vibrant colour formula that glides on effortlessly and sets in seconds without creasing, smearing or smudging.

Every pencil comes with it's own sharpener so you don't have to worry about finding one the right size and in 7 other shades including several vibrant colours so if you wanted to take the neutral one-colour day look to night, you could easily layer a brighter colour with this one for a totally new look!

Available exclusively at Walmart stores across Canada.

- Lisamarie -