Avon Ultra Color Lipstick Review + Swatches (Guest Post)

Avon states “Reveal your most color rich lips with new Ultra Color lipstick.” And I have to say okay Avon this sounds like a great idea so I’m going to give these Ultra Color lipsticks a try.

Avon Ultra Color lipsticks come in 55 true colour shades designed for a variety of skin tones. They are $8.00 each and with Avon you know they always have a great promotion going on so you might even get a deal. You can also order them online or through a representative.

I tried 4 out of the 55 shades. 

Blush Nude – a warm pinkish nude crème lipstick

Poppy Love - a bright orange toned red crème lipstick

Country Rose – a medium red-based coral sheen lipstick (almost frosty)

Fuchsia Fever – a fuchsia frosty glitter lipstick

Avon Ultra Color lipsticks have great opaque pigmentation. They are comparable to a some high end lipsticks in opaqueness. This is just my opinion but I think anyone who tries them will feel how creamy and moisturizing they are. Something about their scent reminds me of Wonka Sweet Tarts which I find very comforting. The texture and finish of the 4 lipsticks I tried varied from a crème to sheen to frost.

I wore both Nude Blush and Country Rose to work and managed about an hour or two until re-application. Poppy Nude and Fuchsia Fever I tried while at home one evening the wear time was the same but I did notice that a lip liner is very helpful in making them last longer. They are $10.00 CAN though- so if I can get a beautiful rich lipstick and have to reapply a few times I’m pretty happy with the time trade off.

With that being said if you are looking for an affordable lipstick that has some great pigmentation. I say give them a go I don’t think you will be sorry you did. As for me Blush Nude isn’t leaving my handbag anytime soon.

Canadians: Philosophy tote & ipad case giveaway

I love seeing Canadian based content. 

I was quite excited to see that Philosophy now shares Canadian specific posts on their facebook page!

Why? For two reasons!

1. Huge number of dedicated Philosophy users in Canada.
2. To share upcoming sales or special offers that are exclusive to Canadians.

Sounds fair to me!

To Celebrate they are giving away a Philosophy tote and ipad case to one lucky Spiced Beauty reader!

Enter to enter check out the Canadian content on Philosophy's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/philosophy/53006362456 and 

then enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

Up Close and Personal: Make Up For Ever Artisan Brushes

Every girl needs a great set of brushes. I always look for something that is high quality and made to last. How about some brushes that have been five years in the making?

Make Up For Ever has come out with a new line of artisan brushes.

If I had to think of two words to describe them- It would be sturdy and soft.

I decided to do this up close and personal post for anybody who is interested in the brushes 

but just want to see a little bit more before they purchase.

fter five years in development with makeup artists and fiber experts, MAKE UP FOR EVER Artisan Brushes are a revolution in brush craftsmanship. The 100-percent fiber brushes are available in a range of 76 handcrafted styles, each with the perfect balance of straight and wavy fibers that replicate natural hairs. Beveled tips create a two-in-one makeup brush and tool, while innovative hair density and brush head shapes optimize every stroke for ideal makeup application. To achieve the ultimate collection, every brush has gone through 25 production stages by 30 craftsmen and has been checked for quality 50 times.

There are 76 brushes in the line and I have three:

106, 104 & 160.

104

Small Foundation Brush ($40.00 CAN)
Straight Fibers.
This is a flat brush that works well with liquid and cream products.
It has a tapered top and the bristles are not too dense.
I love using it to apply my MUFE HD foundation.

106 
Medium Foundation Brush ($41.00 CAN)
Straight Fibers.
This is a rounded flat brush that can pick up powders, liquid and creams.
Similar to the 104 brush.
You can get a quicker application out of this brush because of it's size.

Comparison of the 106 on the left and the 104 on the right.

You can see the 106 has more bristles. That's why you can pick up powder products and it sticks.

The 104 is tapered around the edges. Which works well with the crevices of your face.

160 
Blush Brush ($51.00 CAN)
Wavy & Straight Fibers.
This is a sculpted blush brush to be used with powder.
Perfect for the application of blush. You could probably do highlights with it as well.

I should note: These brushes are made out of synthetic fibers that mimic the 

softness of natural hair brushes.

I also love the finish of the wooden ferrule.

Will you be picking up any of these brushes?