Pretty In Bronze

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Esqido Gel Eyeliner Pencil Review
August 18, 20180 Comments
Hello!

I'm really excited to be writing this blog post today. A few weeks ago I received a PR package from Esqido with their first ever makeup products: The Esqido Gel Eyeliner Pencils! Esqido is known for their false lashes and I've actually written two different blog posts on them before. Check out my review on one of their Mink Lashes sets and Lash Companion glue and here for my review on their Synthetic Unisyn Lashes.

I love their lashes so I was really excited when I got the email that I would be receiving their first ever makeup product, eyeliners. That same day they arrived in the mail and I have been using them ever since.



These eyeliners currently come in a black and a brown. I'm not sure if they plan on expanding the colour range (I really hope so!), but for now these are the colours most people use. I was expecting these to be really expensive because of how high the quality is, but they retail for $16 USD each at full price, but are launching at $10 USD. Esqido is amazing and has made me an affiliate when they added me to their list, so if you use the code amys it will give you an ADDITIONAL 20% off, so if you're interested go buy them now to save a lot of money with my code and their current launch price. If you buy both, that means that you'll be getting two eyeliners for the price of one full priced eyeliner.

These eyeliners are retractable and come with their own sharpeners on the bottom for an extra-precise line. I haven't used the sharpener yet since this is already thin enough to do what I want, but for those of you who like to do detailed work, the sharpener will be great. They come with 0.5g of product per eyeliner and the formula is pretty great and 5-free: Free of latex, formaldehyde, parabens, sulfates, and phthalates. Like most eyeliners I've tried they are also fragrance free and these ones work well on sensitive eyes (mine are pretty sensitive and these don't irritate me). The ingredients are fully listed on their website



I'm wearing the black eyeliner in my waterline and tightline in the first picture, and the brown one in my tightline, and very lightly smudged under my lash line in the second. Once I post close up looks of my eye makeup on my instagram, you'll see these being featured more!

Overall thoughts? These are pretty great. I'm not someone who uses eyeliner on a daily basis, but when I do a full face of makeup, I feel like I at least need some in my tightline. These are super smooth and last all day, so I can rely on them to do my job and not have to worry. The price is also really good considering that the most comparable eyeliners I have in my makeup collection are about $30 CAD each, so with the current launch price and my 20% off discount code, they're super affordable. Of course if you don't want to use my code, you can use someone else's that has done a review of these, but it would mean a lot to me!

Full disclosure: I was sent these eyeliners for free in PR and my amys code is an affiliate code that gives me a bit of commission (some links in this post are also affiliate). I was not paid to write this post or post pictures on instagram, nor was it a requirement for me to write this post in order to receive the products. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

See you soon!

Sunday, July 08, 2018

Wet n Wild Retractable Brow Pencil Review
July 08, 20180 Comments
Hello!

A little while back I received a super exciting package from Wet n Wild with a lot of their products. I reached out since I love and use the brand a lot and they were awesome enough to send over a bunch of makeup and tools. This brand is one of the most affordable at the drugstore, but also has some of the best quality products, so I wanted to make sure to review all of the products that I've been loving so you're all aware of them!

The first product that I quickly fell in love with is their Retractable Brow Pencil. This is just a regular brow pencil on one end, with a spoolie on the other end, but man is it good. It retail
s for $3.99 USD on the website, but I don't actually know the price in Canada (I'm assuming around $5).


It takes me around 30 seconds to completely do my eyebrows with this since my brows are pretty full. The tip is sharp enough that I can make the arch a bit larger on my left eyebrow (AKA my problem eyebrow) and elongate it without it looking unnatural. The spoolie is actually decent as well so it blends everything in nicely when I brush through to help everything look put together. They sent me the colours Medium Brown, and Taupe, but I've only used Medium Brown since I'm currently a brunette.

The lasting power is pretty good as well. I feel like when you're using it it can move around easily, but if you leave it for a few minutes (especially if you set your face with a setting spray) that they don't have any issues with smudging, which I appreciate because sometimes I can mess up and it helps to be able to quickly wipe something away the
second I make the mistake.


If you're looking for a drugstore brow pencil, I highly recommend picking this one up!

I hope you enjoyed this short review and that you're looking forward to more Wet n Wild reviews! Like I said before, most of the products were sent to me (some were purchased), but I really want to blog more often and doing single product reviews is a great way to do that, and be more detailed without ridiculously long posts.

See you soon!

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Indie Expo Canada 2018 Overview + What I received & Bought
June 20, 20180 Comments
Hello!

So I went to the Indie Expo Canada for the first time last week, and I was given the opportunity to go as official press! This means that I was able to gain early access before the public in order to take all of the pictures I needed, talk to the vendors, and collect any press packages that may have been available.

I received a VIP bag for free since I was press, and also received several press kits from vendors, including Indie Expo only shades that are not available elsewhere. I'm not the brightest so I didn't organize everything perfectly according to what was in the VIP bag versus gifts from vendors, but I did separate what I purchased myself. I will be showing everything I received and purchased, but first I'll show a few pictures that I got of a few displays and items at the expo.


Clionadh Cosmetics was the most exciting brand to see for me since I am more of a makeup blogger. They had their products displayed in a way that made it really easy to swatch before purchasing. The shadows are PIGMENTED and I couldn't help but buy two for myself (even though I received a couple for free, which you'll see later in this post. Their famous Archeo palette was on display and available for purchase at the event (even though there was a waiting list online) which is why events like the Indie Expo are huge so you can get your hands on things like this. Another huge plus for this indie brand is that they're 100% vegan and cruelty free.


The three pics above consist of three different brands that I noticed with Indie Expo exclusives! This seems to be common for the event and I think it's wonderful because you get to purchase something special that no one outside of the event can get their hands on. The first pic is from Fair Maiden Polish, the second from Girly Bits Cosmetics, and the third is from Paint it Pretty Polish!


While a vast majority of the products were nail related, there were also a bunch of skincare and body care (as well as general wellness) items at the Indie Expo as well. Terrah Essentials was one of them and they had a BUNCH of cool items. You'll see below that I received a few goodies from this brand for being official press and I'm really excited to try them out!


My photography skills honestly sucked this day (the lighting in the room didn't help either) so it was a bit blurry, but I wanted to show you the table where you could buy some cool Indie Expo swag! I didn't pick any up because I'm a huge budgeter and it wasn't necessary for me (especially since I now have a lovely pink VIP bag from the event to keep forever), but I know many love swag so that's something else you'll have to look forward to if you decide to attend in the future!


Here's a pic of me holding up my super cool press badge!

Now onto the part of the post that most of you care about most. I do plan on reviewing a lot of these over the next few weeks, but here are the products I've received for free!






This last picture below is actually what I purchased at the event! I heard amazing things about the Acetone Additive by Cuter Cuticles, so I wanted to pick up a bottle to hopefully save my nails a little bit every time I use acetone to remove my nail polish (at least once a week). Alter Ego Body Care Products had this cool dog shampoo bar, which I obviously had to get for Chewy. I mentioned above that I actually bought two eyeshadows, and these are the shades! I don't have either in my collection, so I thought these would be a perfect start for me, but so many other amazing shades, as well as blushes and highlighters were available that it was really hard to pick.


If you're into indie brands like I am, I absolutely think you should visit the Indie Expo Canada! A lot of my all time favourite products are from indie brands, and they tend to be fairly affordable, so there's really no downside to them other than accessibility. I'm very excited to dive in and try everything out that I possibly can and to return soon with several reviews!

Keep an eye out on my Instagram to see posts about these products and more!

See you soon!

Monday, June 18, 2018

Dermalogica: Calm Water Gel + Barrier Defence Booster
June 18, 20180 Comments
Hello!

So I went to a Dermalogica event way back during the winter months (two seasons ago to be exact) and received two full sized products in my goodie bag. I'd never used anything from the brand before, but always heard amazing things, so I went in with high expectations.


They were offering free facials and mini facials during the event. I didn't sign up quick enough for a full facial, but I did get a quick 15 minute one done and was incredibly impressed. They conducted a full analysis of my face and I discovered that I actually have dehydrated skin, which is the reason why I have so much irritation on my forehead as well as excess oil.


The goodie bag I received contained two brand new products... well now I guess they're only considered recent. I received the Calm Water Gel and the Barrier Defence Booster. These were both used on me during my mini facial and I fell in love with them.


I put on the Barrier Defence Booster right after I'm finished cleansing my skin. This has helped significantly with the irritation on my forehead. My skin absorbs this fairly quickly and I could tell a difference right away. This is available at Sephora for a whopping $101 CAD, which to me is crazy. While I do love this, that's more than my entire entertainment budget for a month, so I won't be purchasing this when it runs out. I've gone down to using this a few times a week to try and preserve it as long as it can and will be really sad when it runs out.


The Calm Water Gel has the most amazing consistency I've ever felt in a moisturizer. I apply this right after the oil and the smallest bit goes a long way. This spreads really nicely and is super hydrating. I like to put this on right before I do my foundation because it creates a super smoothe and hydrated base, and prevents my makeup from looking cakey. This retails for $65 CAD at Sephora, which almost sounds very reasonable compared to the oil, but it's still super pricey in my books. However, this is my favourite moisturizer that I've ever used and a little goes a long way, so I might actually purchase this one when it runs out. I won't buy it right away, but if I notice that my skin just isn't the same with my other moisturizers (or that it's noticeably more textured and dry) then I will buy this one. I will also drop down to using this only a few times a week to try and preserve it (mainly on days where I'll be wearing makeup since it makes it apply so nicely on top).

Now these products aren't cheap. They're actually ridiculously expensive to me, the person who is now used to moisturizer being under $7 CAD, but they are really good. I've actually considered buying Dermalogica's Daily Microfoliant before and that's $85. At the event they were giving bloggers 30% off and I'm now regretting not jumping on that because I didn't realize just how expensive everything was. If I could've known, I would've bought the Microfoliant and a backup Calm Water Gel that night.

Final thoughts? This brand is worth it if you have the budget, but I'd stick to the Calm Water Gel if you can only afford one since in my opinion it's the most effective. If you don't have lots of money to spend, I'd stick to more affordable brands that might not perform the same, but at least they won't be bad and won't break the bank.

I hope you enjoyed this review! See you next time!

Wednesday, June 06, 2018

Rocky Mountain Soap Company - Face Polish & Hand Cream Review
June 06, 20180 Comments
Hello!

It's been a while! I feel like I always have no real reason for taking a small break other than 'life,' but this time I was taking a break because I've published my debut novel Once Upon A Tear and that has taken a lot of time out recently. Now my books is out and things are slightly calming down for me so I can slowly start blogging again.

I was sent these products a while back (several months ago, actually) and have been using them a lot, so I can finally give a full review.


Face Polish



I've been using this face polish several times a week since I received it, and at first it was kind of tricky to use. I'm not about to get a measuring spoon out so I was just guestimating the amount of polish compared to water (or oil) that I needed, but after a few weeks it became second nature and now I can quickly pour some out and get to exfoliating my face.

While you can use this product with water, oil or creams, I prefer just using water. I tried using it with a face oil, and it didn't exfoliate as much as I wanted it to. I feel like it doesn't mix as easily, and to be honest, I don't really like using oil on my face unless I'm using it as a leave-on treatment.

This polish is gentle when mixed properly, but it still gets the job done. Of course you can mix less water in and have it be grittier, but I don't like using it that way as it scares me what I could be doing to my skin. Having the tiniest bit of texture helps scrub the dead skin and clean up anything around my breakouts. The smell is also quite nice, so that makes the overall experience nicer because I'm super lazy and will find any excuse to not do a full skincare routine at night.

Has this made a major difference in my skin? No. It has made a small difference in the sense that it feels a little bit smoother, but I didn't really have a problem with that before. I, however, do feel like this would make a bigger difference on someone who does have skin issues (particularly someone who is struggling to achieve smoother skin or dry skin).


Hand Cream



This is ok. It's very hard for me to review a hand cream because my hands rarely ever get dry. I wear gloves to wash dishes and for any cleaning duties involving soap and anything stronger, so they've been well preserved (thanks to allergies). My hands also get moisturized as a by-product of moisturizing my body. The few days where the weather went crazy and my hands DID feel dry, I put this on and it did really moisturize my hands.

One downside is that this takes a bit longer than I'd like for it to completely soak in. I work on a laptop all day, so my fingers can't feel moist in any way or my trackpad is annoying to use, so I did avoid using this when at work because of that. For just being around the house it's totally fine, or doing pretty much anything else, but on my laptop I want my fingers completely dry so I can preserve my laptop's trackpad and keys as long as possible. That being said, this is a lot quicker than most hand creams I've tried in the past.

I do have a hand cream that I prefer over this one so I wouldn't purchase this on my own, but this one is more moisturizing, so it really all depends on your preferences! I've also received several hand creams recently, so I place them in different places (bedside table, makeup bag, work, etc.), but this unfortunately doesn't stand out much to me.


This ended up sounding negative, but that wasn't my intention! There's nothing wrong with these products by any means. They just didn't blow my mind at all and aren't that unique. I'm keeping them and do rotate between using different skincare products on a daily basis, but I would not purchase either since they don't wow me.

See you soon!

@beautybyamysousa