Essie wants you to win a Brand New Bag!

If you've been admiring my swatches of the Essie Brand New Bag fall collection (you can find them here and here) you will love this exciting contest taking place on the Essie Canada Facebook page at Facebook.com/EssieCanada. In celebration of the Fall Collection, Essie has partnered with Italian hand bag company, Coccinelle, to offer online fans the opportunity to win the whole fall Essie Collection as well as an Italian-made accessory of their choice.

- Lisamarie -

Fragrant Friday - Stella The Print Collection

Stella The Print Collection - 30ml - $52 - if you already love Stella McCartney's signature eau de parfum, you will adore these limited edition bottles, each adorned with a botanical pattern from her Spring/Summer 2011 collection. With notes of Rose, Peony Flower, Mandarin, Rose Absolute, Amber - it smells feminine and elegant. 

I'm not really a fan of floral scents but these are just so pretty, I have my eye on these babies as Christmas presents!


Available at Sephora and select The Bay and Sears stores - get them while you can!

- Lisamarie -

Meaghan Martin is yanking her favourite things out of her purse - just for you! Contest!

My good friend Meaghan Martin and I were hanging out the other day talking about important things: how hard life in Hollywood can be; how comfortable her Acuvue contacts are; and of course how wonderful my Beauty Crazed readers are and she had the brilliant idea of having a contest for them with a prize of all of her favourite things! After pawing through her bag and deciding against linty mints and Starbucks receipts, this is what she came up with:

Love Quotes Linen Hand Knotted Tassel Scarf;

3 months worth of 1-Day ACUVUE Moist Contact Lenses;

Clean & Clear® Oil Absorbing Sheets;

Aveeno Intense Relief Hand Cream;

Essie Nail Polish in Chinchilly;

Sephora Snag-Free Hair Elastics;

Orbit Bubblemint Gum; she even decided to throw in her

MARC BY MARC JACOBS 'Pretty Nylon - Medium Tate' Tote in Magic Violet Multi

And she assures me that all these items are unused and un-linty! Wanna be just like Meaghan? Read on:

This contest is open to all our Canadian followers and it's very easy to enter, just leave a comment letting us know that you follow (if you aren't a follower you can sign up through Google or Facebook - signups are in the right sidebar)

1 entry for following and answering the question - If you had to remove one item from your bag to be used as a Beauty Crazed contest prize, what would it be? Please also leave your e-mail so we can find you if you win!

And for an extra entries:

Follow @BeautyCrazedCan on Twitter, tweet the contest.
Visit the Acuvue Facebook page and "like" them - http://www.facebook.com/Acuvue
 

If you prefer not to leave your info on a public post, please leave a post saying you want to enter and then e-mail your info to info@beautycrazed.ca, please put "Meaghan's Faves Contest" in the subject line.  Remember to leave the post or you name won't actually end up in the draw! Winner to be decided by random drawing and you have until October 21st to enter. Good Luck!

- Lisamarie -

Davis Factor and Smashbox want you to have flawless skin this fall!

Smashbox's founder Davis Factor was in town recently and I was excited to have a chance to meet him and hear a little about the Smashbox story. Even though he comes from a cosmetic dynasty, he isn't actually a makeup artist but rather a photographer and creator of Smashbox Studios in Los Angeles. The Smashbox makeup line was inspired by his need for products for photo shoots that didn't exist, so what better way to fill the void then make them yourself?!

In keeping with this season's trend of flawless looking skin, Smashbox has released a few new products to help you out with that:

Studio Skin 15 Hour Wear Hydrating Foundation SPF 10 - 30ml - $48 - available in 12 shades, it's an oil-free and lightweight formula with light diffusing spheres for undetectable coverage of blemishes and imperfections. Enriched with antioxidants and vitamins A, E and C, to help improve skin's health with continued use.

Photo Set Pressed Powder - $32 - in five shades: fair, light, light/medium, medium and dark - with a lightweight, long-lasting formula infused with micronized pigments, vitamins C and E for coverage that minimizes imperfections while keeping skin looking natural and smooth.

Photo Finish Hydrating Foundation Primer - 30ml - $44 - with a lightweight, oil-free formula - it contains Hydraplex12 - an extract derived from desert plants, which allows the primer to immediately quench parched skin and seal in moisture for hours with a protective barrier that fills in fine lines and pores.  

My friend Julie insists that this primer smells weird but I just don't smell whatever she's smelling - I detect a slight alcohol type smell that goes away pretty fast but nothing else - you'll have to decide if Julie's right or smoking crack (again).

- Lisamarie -

Quo by Orly - Celestial Star, Blue Lagoon and Green Meadow swatches!

Quo by Orly will be making an appearance at your local Shoppers Drug Mart any day now so to whet your appetite, here are my three fave colours from the new collection!

Celestial Star - how much do you love the sparkle?!

Blue Lagoon - metallic blue wonderfulness!

Green Meadow - creamy blue-green

Not only are the colours beautiful but the formula is a dream to apply - it spreads so evenly that I had no problems not slopping it all over my cuticles - there is no touch-up stick involved in any of the swatches above!

- Lisamarie -

Eye Love Wednesday - Marcelle new eye products launches with bonus Lux Eye Dust swatches!

If you're looking to perk up your eye wardrobe, you're in luck - Marcelle has just launches Lux Eye Dust ($11.95) in 10 fabulous shimmering colours and a Waterproof Eyeliner ($10.50) in 8 shades!

The chart above actually gives a very true indication of what the colours look like, but swatches are always better, so here you go - please excuse the weird cropping on some of them - I should have cleaned up under my eye before taking the picture, the fine layer of powder which you don't notice so much in person is really picked up by the camera! In the future when wearing these in public, I would probably either apply my foundation last or place a kleenex or something under my eye to catch the fallout!

Supersonic - is my favourite, I obviously still have an 80's affinity with blue eyeshadow

Illusion

Element

Vegas

Bronze Millionaire

Mermaid

Ocean,

High Voltage

Fantasia

Go-Violet

These swatches are all done dry but you can also use the powder wet for a really intense look - it can also be mixed with anything - body cream, nail polish and lipgloss to add shimmer.

My only complaint comes from the packaging, on some of them, the fliptop was really hard to open, I actually had to pry it open with a knife! I do appreciate powders coming in a fliptop with a small opening - when they're in the screw off jars, the powder gets everywhere!

- Lisamarie -

Smell like a celebrity for a very reasonable price! Heidi Klum, Zoe Saldana and Fergie want you to!

If you're tired of celebrity fragrances that cost as much as their monthly shoe budget, here's a few from our frugal celebrity friends!

Heidi Klum Shine - 30ml EDT - $35 - with top notes of mandarin, pink pepper and pear; heart notes of mimosa absolut, lily of the valley and sunflower; and base notes of vanilla, tonka beans from Venezuela and Cosmone musk.

Zoe Saldana Eternal Magic Enchanted - 50ml EDT - $25 - with top notes of red raspberry, cassis and lush greens; heart notes of violet leaf absolute, pink diamond rose and velvet iris; and base notes of cashmere woods, creamy vanilla and musks. Also available in a Shower Gel or Body Lotion - 200ml - $12.

Outspoken Intense by Fergie - 50ml EDT - $30 - with top notes of blackberry, starfruit and kumquat; heart notes of purple passion flower, lush gardenia and orange flower petals; and base notes of sensual musks, white amber and blonde cedar.

Both of these fragrances are available from your Avon rep - 1800-265-AVON or online at www.avon.ca

- Lisamarie -

This week I'm obsessed with... Olay Smooth Finish Facial Hair Removal Duo!

Olay Smooth Finish Facial Hair Removal Duo - $29.99 - is a specially formulated two-step system designed to gently yet effectively remove fine to medium unwanted facial hair on the upper lip and jawline, making skin less prone to irritation. The two steps include a Skin Guarding Balm - that provides a thin guarding layer while still exposing hair and a Hair Removal Cream - a fresh lightly scented water based cream that is applied over the guarding balm to weaken and effortlessly remove hair. What makes it different from other hair removal creams is that it significantly reduces signs of redness and makes skin less prone to irritation post-use as well as improving skin's condition and strengthening skin's own natural barrier defenses.

My big issue with facial hair removal creams is they give me a rash and red bumps are worse than hair. I don't have particularly sensitive skin either so I expect if they irritate me, they irritate most people.

Which makes the skin guarding balm in this Olay product genius - because the hair removal cream never actually touches my skin, no irritation! It's great not having to choose between bumps or peach fuzz anymore!

- Lisamarie -