Essence Winter 2018 collection, Winter Dreamin'

New Release: Essence — Winter Dreamin’ (Winter 2018)

2018-01-052018-01-04 fivezero2 Comments

Collection: Essence 2018 Winter, Winter Dreamin’

Germany-based Essence Cosmetics has just released a new collection, Winter Dreamin’, to kick off 2018. The online exclusive, limited edition collection consists of four new nail colors (US$1.99), a snow ball top coat ($3.99), and nail stickers ($1.49), as well as an eyeshadow palette ($9.99), sheer lipsticks ($3.99), inner rim eye pencil ($1.99), 2in1 highlighter & blush powder ($5.99), and fluffy snow touch hand cream ($4.99).

Cozy Mountain Mornings (01)

Hot Cocoa & Fuzzy Socks (02)

Sleigh Rides & Snowball Fights (03)

Girlstalk at the Fireplace (04)

Ready Set Snow
Snow Ball Top Coat

Sprinkle Me With Snowflakes
Nail Stickers (01)

These are marked as online exclusives on the US site. They are not (yet?) available on the Canadian site.

Happy Shopping!

[Images via essencemakeup.com]

Essence Cosmetics downloadable calendar, 2018, image

Happy New Year! Downloadable 2018 Calendars & more from Essence

2018-01-01 fivezero8 Comments

Happy New Year, everybody!

It’s time for me to toss my free 2017 calendar from the Canadian Dairy Farmers, and as luck would have it, Essence Cosmetics has just released a free downloadable calendar for 2018. The great thing about it is there are no Essence logos on it—it’s just cute and pretty!

Also, check out the other fun downloadables at their site, which include:

iPhone backgrounds
Thank You Cards
Wishlists
Shout-Outs
Invites

Hope you enjoy them!

I’ll be spending the first day of the year with my extended family, watching Burnley v Liverpool and eating Chinese food. What’s up in your world today?

Wishing you and yours a very happy and healthy new year!

🎉 fz

Essence Nail Polish in Outta Space Is the Place, swatch

Essence — Outta Space Is the Place (Nail Polish) Swatch & Review

2017-12-142017-12-14 fivezero6 Comments

Brand: Essence 2017 Fall, Out of Space Stories

Essence recently released a collection of outer space-inspired nail colors, and over the course of several trips to Shoppers Drug Mart, I couldn’t help picking up, well…all of them:

Outta Space Is the Place (01)
Across the Universe (02)
Space Glam (03)
Beam Me Up! (04)
Intergalactic Adventure (05)
We Will Spock You! (06)
1000 Light Years Away (07)

The packaging is very sleek and feels a bit fancier than their usual product packaging, with squared glass bottles and mirror-shine caps. All the shades are also various types of iridescent shimmers and glitters. The price reflects these details, and the 9 mL polishes retail for CA$3.99 instead of the usual $2.99 for the 8 mL Gel Nail Polishes.

Today, I’m reviewing Outta Space Is the Place (01), a pearly iridescent white that is—very happily—opaque!

Haulage! Drugstores & Cosmetic Love (Oct 2016 & Feb–Mar 2017)

2017-03-142017-09-05 fivezero16 Comments

Finally, everyone in the household is on the road to recovery! I managed to stay relatively illness-free, except for once when I think I might have given myself food poisoning and had an upset stomach for a night. We were all so overwhelmed over the last week and a half that my husband actually had to remind me that we forgot about our 17th wedding anniversary over the weekend.

I should really get my computer to remind me about stuff like this.

So, we celebrated last night with some dinner delivered and half a movie (The Nice Guys, if you’re interested—and that’s how we have to roll nowadays, early to bed). Plus, we’ll add a li’l anniversary money to our fun budgets!

Speaking of fun budgets, here’s some stuff I hauled over the last couple of months from drugstores. And I’m including some stuff I got from Cosmetic Love late last year, but totally forgot about under my desk.

All prices are what I paid, not necessarily the MSRP.

The full list:

A’Pieu Start Up Pore Primer [free sample]
Banila Co. Glam Muse Luster Lipstick in LPP 656 [US$11.52]
Bee By the Sea Sea Buckthorn Lip Balm in Vanilla [CA$3.19]
Bulgari Omnia Paraiba EDT 25 mL Purse Spray [CA$19.99]
butter LONDON 6-Piece Petite Lacquer Collection [CA$17.50]
Cargo HD Picture Perfect Concealer in Light Medium [CA$14]
Cargo HD Picture Perfect Liquid Foundation in 2N [CA$21]
Cargo OneBase Concealer + Foundation in One in 025 [CA$14]
CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion [CA$13.99]
CoverGirl Ready Set Gorgeous Fresh Complexion Oil Free Foundation in Medium Beige (210) [CA$5.99]
Crawford Street Rose Geranium 2-in-1 Soothing Cleanser [CA$11.99]
Essence The Gel Nail Polish (Soft Matt) in Va-Va-Voom [CA$2.99]
Etude House Dr. Mascara Fixer Perfect Lash [US$5.74]
Gosh Nail Lacquer in Galaxy (612) [CA$4]
Green Beaver Natural Toothpaste in Frosty Mint [CA$4.63]
Innisfree The Green Tea Seed Serum [free sample]
It’s Skin Macaron Lip Balm, Holiday Edition, in Green Apple [US$4.87]
L.A. Girl HD PRO BB Cream in Light/Medium [CA$7.49]
L’Oréal Colour Riche Le Vernis à l’Huile in Coral Trianon [CA$7.49]
L’Oréal Infallible Pro-Glow Foundation in Nude Beige (203) [CA$14.99]
Lioele Beyond the Solution BB Cream [US$11]
Lioele Dollish Cera-V CC Cream [US$15.25]
Mizon Hyaluronic Ultra Moisturizing Cream [US$8.38]
Revlon ColorStay Makeup, Normal/Dry, Buff (150) [CA$16.99]
Revlon ColorStay Makeup, Normal/Dry, SPF 20 Nude (200) [CA$16.99]
Revlon Nail Enamel in Daydreamer [CA$8.99]
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Love Is On [CA$4.99]
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Bow To the Queen [CA$7.47]
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Pardon My Garden [CA$7.47]
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Talk Is Chic [CA$7.47]
Wet n Wild Color Icon Au Naturel 10-Pan Eyeshadow Palette in Bare Necessities (753A) [CA$6.39]
Wet n Wild Color Icon Au Naturel 10-Pan Eyeshadow Palette in Nude Awakening (754A) [CA$7.99]
Wet n Wild Max Volume Plus Waterproof Mascara in Amp’d Black [CA$4.79]
Wet n Wild 1 Step WonderGel Nail Color in Left Marooned [CA$4.79]

Photos and comments:

Tag Tuesday: Lip Lovin’

2016-11-222016-11-21 fivezero10 Comments

It has been eons since I did a Tag post, partly because I haven’t been tagged for anything in a while. Sniff! 😦

Anyway, I came across this tag at The Makeup Honey—the blogger, Sian, created the tag herself—and thought it’d be fun to do.

Tag Tuesday: Lip Lovin’

1. What was the first lipstick you ever owned?

CoverGirl in Honeyplum Glow! I can’t remember if my mom let me buy it, or if she gave it to me. Or maybe I just “borrowed” it and she never said anything! I used it all through high school. JUST ONE LIPSTICK. Boggles my mind, now.

2. Which lip product has been the biggest disappointment?

Lipstick Queen’s Sinner Lipstick in Berry. Horrid. I also hate all those pastel lipcolors that end up so chalky and showing every line and bit of dry skin on the lips! I’m looking at you, CoverGirl Katy Kat Matte Lipstick in Coral Cat and MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Fashion City! Another two fails I remember well were Bobbi Brown Lip Color in Blackberry and Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede in Flashing Lights.

CoverGirl Katy Kat Matte Lipstick in Coral Cat (far right)

3. Which lipstick is your holy grail product?

Ipsy — October 2016 Glam Bag “Black Magic”

2016-10-142017-07-04 fivezero24 Comments

I’m totally on the ball with my Ipsy bag this month! It just arrived yesterday and here’s the haulage:

Ipsy Glam Bag, October 2016, Black Magic — Image: ipsy.com

What I Received

theBalm Blush in Cabana Boy (0.02 oz mini; x oz full size US$)
Essence Superfine Eyeliner Pen Waterproof (0.3 fl oz full size, US$)
Noyah Lipstick in Currant News (1.4 g mini; 4.5 g full size US$18)
Preventive Measures 101 Lips 101 After Hours Lip Balm (0.15 oz full size; US$13)
Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely Rollerball (10 mL full size; US$20)
Ipsy × Valfré makeup bag

Ipsy Coupon Codes

Noyah: 25% off any purchase with code noyahIPSY (through 11/30)
theBalm: 20% off any purchase with code IPSY20 (through 11/30, US only)
Essence: 20% off any purchase with code ipsyessence20 (through 11/30, US only)
Valfré: 25% off your first purchase with code IPSY25 (through 11/15)

Here are some more detailed product shots:

Haulage Week! Essence, L’Oréal & OPI

2016-04-012016-03-31 fivezero2 Comments

Happy April Fool’s Day!

This week, I’ll be posting about some little hauls I’ve made recently, rather than swatches and reviews. Here’s the haulage post schedule for this week:

Monday: Essie, Illamasqua, Smashbox, W7
Tuesday: Zoya
Wednesday: Perfume (Ellen Tracy, Jennifer Lopez)
Throwback Thursday: MAC
Friday: Essence, L’Oréal, OPI

The last installment of Haulage Week! includes two items from Dollarama and one from Shoppers Drug Mart. From the dollar store, I picked up a purple L’Oréal mascara and one of the ugliest shades of OPI ever seen, for CA$3 apiece. From the drugstore, I got the much raved about Essence gel top coat on sale for CA$2.99.

I can normally only use waterproof mascaras due to my extremely stubborn lashes that uncurl in a slightly humid bathroom, but ever since I have been using a Korean waterproof mascara undercoat, I’ve been able to enjoy using regular mascaras! So L’Oréal Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara in Purple Pop was mine at the cool price of $3.

Dollarama also sometimes has OPI polishes, and they’ve recently had heaps of one particular shade: Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window. (I get motion sickness very easily, so this kind of speaks to me on a personal level.) As you might have guessed, it’s a kind of vomit-y, pea green shade. I’ve passed on it many times, but this time I finally bit the bullet. I might save the swatch for Halloween!

Finally, there’s been so much hype about Essence The Gel Nail Polish Top Coat that I spotted it on sale last week for $2.99 and immediately bought it. I change my polish too often to test it out properly on my fingernails, so I’ll have to try it on my toenails, instead.

Enjoy the weekend, and I should be back with swatches and reviews on Monday!