New Spiced Beauty Contributor: Alicia

Currently, my blog is growing rapidly. To keep up with the demand, I decided to look for contributors. Alicia is no stranger to the blog. In June 2012, she did one of my first guest posts on the Maybelline Colour tattoos. The post received a lot of attention and I had to approach her to contribute more. It's good to share products which work for various skin tones so I'm happy to have Alicia on board. I thought it would be good for you all to get to know her- check out what she has to say about beauty!

Why did you want to contribute to Spiced Beauty?  
I've been following Jenn on twitter for a long time, as long as I have been reading Spiced Beauty. It was great to be able to converse with a beauty blogger who was in my country. I find Canada doesn't have as many beauty bloggers as the USA or the UK and I like to research products before I buy them and see personal opinions. I wanted to be able to help other beauty nuts like myself to learn what products are in their area. Having the opportunity to contribute to Spiced Beauty was a no brainer who doesn't want to contribute to a blog that they read and write about products they would love to share.

Favourite Canadian Beauty Brand? 
Bite Beauty for highend and Annabelle for drugstore

Liquid, pencil or gel eye liners? 
Liquid liner, kohl for waterline

Tip to get the perfect eyeliner? 
Eyeliner is a tricky one. I find for me the trick is to not be rushed, if I am rushed I will mess it up. So my tip would be dont worry if you mess up just grab a pointed Q-Tip dip it in your foundation (or whatever base you used) and clean up the mistake.

Lipsticks or Gloss? 
Lipstick

My ideal mascara is ...
A mixture of mascaras, I like layering Diorshow mascara and L'oreal Voluminous Million Lashes, I love a clumpy spider lash look - personal preference.

My favourite make up remover ...
Andalou Naturals Revitalizing Lash and Lid Make-Up Remover for eyes and Aubrey Organics Sea Buckthorn Nourishing Bath Bar for the rest of my make up.

My skin care routine ... 
My routine is probably complex to some and basic to others. It is what works best for my skin at the moment as I have combination skin that can get dehydrated and oily very easily. I wash my face with the products above, once my skin is clean I us the Andalou Naturals Blossom & Leaf Toning Refresher and then move on to my Indeed Labs Hydraluron as my face serum and Vichy Liftactiv Serum 10 Eyes and Lashes as my eye serum. After that I use Andalou Naturals Hyaluronic DMAE Lift & Firm Cream and my Nuxe Prodigieux Eye Contour cream. I then spray my face with Etival Ener-C Mist.

My nighttime routine is the same except I us rosehip oil as my night moisturizer and if need be I will use my La Roche-Posay Efficlar Duo. Once a week I use my Clairisonic in the shower with The Alba Botanica Nautiral Hawaiian facial cleanser. Twice a week I also do a mask it will either be the Nuxe Clarifying Cream-Mask with Rose Petals, the Andalou Naturals Kombucha Enzyme Exfoliating Peel or the Glam Glow Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment.

Curly or straight hair?  
Wavy hair, like cocker spaniel ears. its flat on top and very wavy and big on the sides.

How many lip products do you have in your purse/makeup bag? 
At this very second I have 3 lip balms an hourglass liquid lipstick, a ysl lipstick and a rimmel lipstick and an annabelle lip liner so 7.

Caryl Baker Visage - Notorious Beauty Collection (Guest Post)

 The collection is called Notorious Beauty and from first glance I knew this collection was going to make me think of a film noir Greta Garbo type of evening.

The Notorious collection boasts Intense Colour, All of the Drama and Irresistible Glamour and I must admit I think Cary Baker Visage hit the nail on the head with these claims. The collection showcases a great selection of eye shadows, lip-glosses, lipsticks, lip pencils and blush in earth tone and plum/berry shades.

I was able to try an eye shadow trio, a lip pencil, a lip-gloss and a blush. There was also a single shadow in the mix from the Spring Awakening collection (I swatched it also cause it was just so darn pretty)

Left to Right: Caryl Baker Visage Lip-gloss in Corruption, Caryl Baker Visage Lip liner in Desire

Caryl Baker Visage Lip-gloss in Corruption
(Regular Price $17.50, Beauty Club Price $15.75)
The formula of the gloss is a tad sticky but it has some serious staying power I was sporting a ghostly heart shadow on my forearm for most of the night after I swatched it. The lip gloss smells much like other glosses of the same caliber (like a vanilla cookie) I’m not a huge fan of sparkle so chances are this wont be my go to gloss but the pigmentation is pretty great so maybe on a glamorous night out I might just bring this beauty along.

Caryl Baker Visage Lip liner in Desire
(Regular Price $15.00, Beauty Club Price $13.50)
I am super impressed with this lip liner. It is a solid texture but creamy and pigmented. At first I thought it was going to lean towards a cherry red but upon further inspection I noticed it’s much more of a deep raspberry. There isn’t much else I can say other than I can already tell this is going to be a go to for the holidays.

Left to Right: Caryl Baker Visage eye shadow in peachy, Caryl Baker Visage eye shadow in Silhouette, Baker Visage eye shadow in Sabotage, Baker Visage eye shadow in Smoldering, Baker Visage blush in Dial M for “Makeup”

Caryl Baker Visage Blush in Dial M for “Makeup”
(Regular Price $22.50, Beauty Club Price $20.25)
I would categorize this blush as a spiced rose colour. It is a soft matte pigmented blush and fromm what I can tell a pretty universal colour. I happen to be a pretty fair lady so to use it I would have to be light handed but a light hand is easy to do with a pigment as nice as this. This blush is such a great autumn colour and will really help to warm up you complexion as your sun kissed glow starts to fade.

Caryl Baker Visage Eye Shadow Trio in Silhouette/Sabotage/Smoldering 
(Regular Price $18.00, Beauty Club Price $16.20)
The eye shadow trio is a beauty at first glance but once you get into swatching you notice that there are some flaws. Silhouette is a light matte grey and a colour I would gravitate too but it is a bit chalky and doesn’t play the nicest with a shadow brush or a finger for that matter. I think its still usable but it will take a bit more work. Sabotage is a cool shimmery brown and is my most favourite. The shadow is buttery and very pigmented. Smoldering is a warm deeper shimmery brown and felt quite gritty in comparison to Sabotage. The trio its self is beautiful and the colours will look great together but there was a lot of fall out and the textures and formulation were not consistent.

I happen to live in an area that doesn’t have a Caryl Baker Visage location so this is my first experience with the brand. I have to say though the products are a pleasant surprise. I’m not sure that this collection is totally for me but there are certain products that I really do think will end up mixed in my regular beauty routine. I am also very certain that this is not my last time hanging out with Ms Baker. I cant wait to try more collections in the future.

The Notorious Beauty collection is still available while supplies last online and at your local Caryl Baker Visage location so I suggest if you feel like spending a little money on some glamour products you do just that.

Maybelline Color Tattoo Review (Guest Post)

I have been on the hunt for a drugstore cream shadow that can be used as a base (much like a Mac paint pot) for ages. I have tried every cream shadow Shoppers Drugmart has to offer. These cream shadows are okay but they never truly stand up to my day-to-day lifestyle. I don’t live in a major metropolis so when I want to visit a Mac or a Sephora store I am looking at a good hour and a half to two-hour drive.

Which is why the other day I got very excited when I came a crossed a display in my local Shoppers. This display was very intriguing. Not unlike most of you I hadn’t heard anything about Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadows. These little pots looked just like the Benefit creaseless eyeshadow packaging and felt a lot like a Make Up Forever aqua cream. I automatically pulled out my iPhone and Googled this these little beauty, but much to my surprise there wasn’t anything on the Internet that could help me.

So I did what any savvy beauty-loving girl would do. I bought three. There were nine colours to choose from at my Shoppers Drugmart.

05 – Too Cool (matte white)

10- Fierce & Tangy (matte tangerine orange)

20- Painted Purple (shimmery lilac purple)

25 – Bad to the Bronze (shimmery bronze)

30- Pomegranate Punk (shimmery burgundy)

35- Tough as Taupe (matte grayish beige)

40- Tenacious Teal (shimmery aqua blue)

45- Bold Gold (shimmery gold)

50- Edgy Emerald (matte moss green)

Left to Right (50 – Pomegranate Punk, 35- Tough as Taupe, 45 – Bold Gold)

I decided to go with Pomegranate Punk, Tough as Taupe and Bold Gold. When it comes to new cosmetics I like to play it safe. The first thing I can tell you is this product has a nice consistency. Its soft and creamy but dries to a powder-like finish. The colours are in the collection are very wearable and yet Maybelline seemed to have a bit of fun also. For me the true test of any cream shadow is how it applies. With most drugstore shadows you are stuck using your finger for application. Which is fine but if you want a precise look it ends up looking a bit messy. The Maybelline Color Tattoo shadows have the ability to be used with a brush as well as finger application.

Left side finger swatched, Right side brush swatched

When it comes down to wearability I put this product to the test at the two jobs I work at. The one was wearability at an office and the other was wearability at a restaurant. In an office setting this eyeshadow worked rather well as a base or as an all over lid colour. There was minimal creasing and the colour stayed true throughout my 8-hour day. As for at the restaurant when I am a waitress, this shadow was only good as a base. As an all over lid colour it started to run and crease near the heat lamps unless it was set with a powder eyeshadow. I also found that the one matte shade (Tough as Taupe) I purchased had a better staying power that the other two shimmery colours.


All in all seeing as this is a drugstore product that costs $9.99 and I don’t have to take a crazy road trip to get it. I’d give the product 8/10. I deducted a point for the fact that most of the shades are shimmery (I would have liked to see more matte shades and in lighter colours). I also deducted a point for the intolerance to heat (I would not wear this as an all over lid colour to a club).