Nars the Multiple

I feel like Nars The Multiple is such a cult favourite. You always want one and they come in many great colours. Copacabana is probably the most well-known colour and it should be. It's the perfect highlighter. It's a pearl kind of colour which means that it looks good on everyone and if you're careful with it, the look is so natural. If you like highlighters, you must try it.

I also have a Multiple in Palm Beach which is a rich bronze colour. It's great used as a bronzer at any time of year.


The Multiples are not at all greasy. They are a cream-to-powder finish and blend effortlessly. They also last forever.

When you use them, don't smear them on directly from the tube. Instead, use your fingers to pick up pigment and dab and blend it where you need it. You'll have more control over where you place the product this way, and won't be wasting any either.

Oh, and if you're wondering what I think of the Multiple in Orgasm... I have to say that I like the powder better in this case.

Bronzer for Men

Having a beauty blog is an interesting hobby. Whenever you tell anyone about it, they are liable to tell you what products you should review, how excellent your makeup always looks, and their makeup horror stories. I love these kinds of interactions. I learn so much more about people from their responses!

And then I also get asked for advice. Sometimes people take it, many times they don't. I find that what they really get out of the advice is motivation and confidence to approach a makeup counter and feel like they know what they're talking about. That is great.

Then there are the times when men ask me for advice. Their questions are funny and varied: "What kind of eye cream should I use?" (well, what are your needs?); "Do you think I'm starting to look old?" (um, at the age of 23... no); or my all time favourite: "Why did my facial make me break out?" (where do I begin?)

But here's some advice about a product that almost everyone should use: Bronzer.

Bronzer for Men:

Bronzer for men is unique because more often than not, men will want to use something that doesn't have any shimmer in it so that it's not obvious that they are wearing makeup. A good bronzer can make you look well-rested and even exotic without really drawing attention to you.

A good bronzer for men to use is one by Jean Paul Gaultier. It is sold widely at department stores and Sephora where it's kept with the men's fragrances. If you don't want to get it from a store, order it online. It looks like this: Packaged in a somewhat plain box, it's one of those things you could keep in your car, and no one would be the wiser that you were actually wearing makeup. It's silky smooth and very natural looking.

How to put on bronzer:

Of course, to wear it well, you must know how to apply it properly. Remember: put it where the sun would naturally hit your face. That means on top of your cheeks, your forehead (especially the middle), the bridge of your nose, and a little on your chin. Don't put too much. A light dusting will just about do it and remember, you want it to look natural. If you put it on but you can't tell that you're wearing it, mission accomplished!

Benefit's Packaging

Dear Benefit,

I love your products, I really really do. I've reviewed quite a few of them, and I wear the Dallas blush all the time.

But goodness gracious I am sick to death of your horrible packaging.

I get that many people love it. It's unique, and cute, and for many people that is better than a boring compact from a regular makeup counter. But if I'm buying a $30 blush, I want a good mirror in the compact, I'd love something I can just pop into my purse, and for heaven's sake give me a blush compact that's big enough to swirl my brush in! Plus, cardboard? Make your compacts using other materials please. Something sturdy so that I don't have to be scared to store it in the bathroom with my other makeup. I love the colour of my Dallas blush, but this useless box has got to go.
And I'm really not asking for a lot - know how I know? Because I get that whenever I buy another brand of expensive blush.

And now you've come out with Powder Pop! What a brilliant idea - all your great face powders in one little box, so that the user can choose whether to bronze, blush, or brighten. When I saw this, I loved it and wanted it. And then I looked closer. Though this box is larger than the regular Benefit blush/bronzer boxes, because there are 3 powders instead of 1, each individual compartment is quite small.
What that means is that there's almost no way that I can swirl my blush brush in the powders. No way, I tried it and each time putting the brush in these boxes was awkward and annoying. I mean, I get what you're trying to do here - the whole concept harks back to your original square-shaped powder boxes. It's cute but just not functional! Why not go the way of Dior and put the three colours together in one rectangular compact or the way of Bobbi Brown and have a nice large palette? Why this?

Benefit, you have great products but horrible packaging.

Sincerely,

Canadian Beauty Blog,
a Benefit user

Canadian Beauty News: June 29, 2007

This week: Lorac products are finally in, and Sebastian introduces a new hairspray for Hairspray the movie!


The Lorac Look
I feel as if I've been waiting a long long time for these two products - the Glam Rocks (left) especially have been hyped to no end so I was anxious to try them.

Lorac Glam Rocks is basically eyeshadow that comes in three different colours - a pewter, a copper, and a creamy white. Each colour is intensely sparkly. Worn sheer, the effect is sparkles on your eyes, but worn layered, the look is wet glossy metallic. I quickly figured out why this product is called Glam Rocks - when you dust it into your hand, it comes out looking like tiny rocks. I found that the best way to apply this eyeshadow was using your fingers. That way you have control of where and how much you're applying and the sparkles don't get all over your face. Because of the sheer sparkliness of the product, it's definlty best for night so if you were looking for a copper shadow for work definitely skip this.

The Carribean Heat Bronzer on the other hand is genius. It quickly and easily gives you a glowy look as if you've been out in the heat for the day. The colour on the very left is a sheer shimmery peach that is perfect for highlighting, and it's easy enough to skip it all together if you want a look that's more natural. Needless to say, the accompanying brush is useless.

Sebastian Hairspray
Check it out - Sebastian Professional Shaper Hairspray is the official hairspray for the movie Hairspray and will be shown in the movie as "Ultra Clutch." The hairspray is actually perfect for the summer - it provides hold but isn't at all sticky or crusty. It's perfect for setting your hair and preserving your styles from the summer humidity. You can find this product wherever Sebastian products are being sold.

Great Beauty Reads

Face Candy introduces us to Benefit's new primer.

A Touch of Blusher gives us a summer makeup roundup.

The Indie Perfume Blog tells us where essences are sourced from.

Coming up soon: masks reviewed so you can take care of your summer skin, new products from Olay, and a focus on mascaras! Have a lovely weekend!

Canadian Beauty News: June 1, 2007

New Lipglosses!

Lip glosses are everybody's favourite, whether you're beauty-obsessed or not. They're all different, easy to use, and if you buy the right colours you know that you can wear them with almost everything.

The newest addition is one I reported on last week - MAC Tendertones. They're smooth, sheer, and smell yummy. My favorite colours are the pinks - they're so perfect for summer.

I also really love the new offerings from Bourjois. They've introduced 4 new formulations: Eau de Gloss, Fresh Kiss Minty Lipgloss, Baume de Nuit Night Lip Balm, and Duo Lip Scrub and Baume. I found the minty gloss not sweet enough and it didn't taste like anything so I'm thinking that it would disguise bad breath more than anything else. The scrub was good but the accompanying gloss was too pale for my highly pigmented lips so it didn't suit me, the night balm is excellent, and the Eau de Gloss is definitely the most intriguing of the lot.

Eau de Gloss is mostly water but the formulation itself isn't watery at all. It goes on more like a gel and is very sheer. I was very surprised and impressed by the staying power of the gloss - it's not sticky at all but manages to really stick to the lips. The gloss feels slightly cooling when you put it on due to the amount of water in the gloss and it's a very pleasant feeling.

Smashbox has also introduced a new lip gloss that's in a pot - available in four colours, these balms are soothing and have a hint of tint - almost like Smashbox's own cheek tints. These little pots are easy to carry around and expand Smashbox's already thorough line of products.

I think that the reason that these balms are being introduced in the summer is because consumers may not feel like wearing a heavy lipstick in the heat of the summer. You want to look carefree and have light easy makeup and putting on a thick layer of matte lipstick doesn't really help accomplish that. It's lip gloss all the way!

Prescriptives: The Nudists

I also had a look at the new Prescriptives collection this week - The Nudists is the exact opposite of The Vibrants of course, but the same rules apply when it comes to looking at colour. The collection is everything you could hope for in a nude collection - natural looking lipsticks and blushes, which a bit of colour coming from the eye colour. They've also helpfully divided the collection into warm and cool toned colours so if you're at a loss at how to match colours, I would just pick the side you like best and go with that.

I myself liked the cool collection because it features a new colour of my favourite Moonbeam Reflective eyeliner - a pretty shade of purple called Beaming Twilight. They already had a violet eyeliner but it went on very light and silvery and this shade is darker. It's a nice balance with the nude look that the rest of the products provide. If a very natural sheer look is your style then this collection might have everything that you're looking for!

Readers' Questions

Last week, I received the following email from A:

I would like to use a bronzer, preferably matt so I can wear it to work on days where I have to do presentations to executives.

Do you have one you can recommend?

Well, A, I think that you're definitely on the right track when you want to find something that's matte. As much as I like products with shimmer, I find that they draw attention to your makeup and are least obvious when used at night. For daytime, I would recommend using Cargo bronzer - it comes in a skin-true colour and the tins are huge, ensuring that your brush gets a nice even dose of bronzer.

Note as well that there are two ways to wear bronzer: the first is to dust it where the sun would naturally fall - on the bridge of the nose, on the forehead, and at the tops of your cheeks. The second way is to dust a layer only at the perimeter of the face. This make the center of the face look brighter and it looks as if it is glowing. You might want to experiment with both methods and see which one works best for you.

I would like to answer readers' questions every week so if you want a product recommendation or are just wondering about a product, email me at: henna@canadianbeauty.com or leave a question in the comments section of any post!

New Look Coming Soon!

Canadian Beauty is revamping its look! Now is the time to let me know what you think about the site - leave me a comment with your feedback!

Canadian Beauty News: May 11, 2007

The sun is out and shining and with the great weather come great new products and events!

Toronto - Global Capital of Style?

A couple of nights ago, I went to the Press Party for Toronto Week of Style. Happening in a couple of weeks, the week will feature fashion shows and styles aimed more at the public than the buyers of stores. The week is hosted by the Style Council of Canada and the shows are grouped by theme rather than designer. Bambumoda, for example, will showcase the trends coming up in the next 4 or 5 years, while Fashion Fringe will be more about undiscovered talent from all over the world. There will also be a Denim show, a show for swimwear, for lingerie, and best of all, one for pop culture.

I have to say that the best part of the whole event is that bloggers are given the same amount of respect as the rest of the media. Great seats, personalized attention, and complete lack of snobbery were features of the press party and made me glad that I had gone. This is likely the first of many posts that I'll write covering the event, so stay tuned!

Oh, and associated with Toronto Week of Style, is a campaign that says that Toronto is the Global Capital of Style. Is it? What do you think?

New Products from Duwop!

Duwop has expanded its product line and those products are finally in stores this week.

Lets begin with the E-lix-r-stix. Basically a pen filled with a gloss that tastes sort of like a cookie. These have a runny consistency sort of like Cargo's Purse Gloss but also go on smooth and semi-sheer. They come in 4 great colours that look natural on. I tried, I liked!

Next comes Blushbooster, meant to be layered on top of regular blush to add shine or... I don't know, layer on more blush? Really, I don't know why they'd call this Blush booster when it's pretty much just a regular blush. It comes in nice colours, has a smidge of shimmer (not too much), and goes on smoothly. It's not so sheer that you have to layer on tons to get good colour payoff, but it's not ultra-bright either.

Finally, there's Duwop Realipstick which is a nice normal glossy lipstick that comes in neutral tones only.

Overall, the new products add to Duwop's reputation of having products that provide a natural look. The products they offer are good and if you want lipsticks or blushes that look natural on your skin, and if you want a line that offers everyday basics in flattering colours, then Duwop is the line for you.

Laura Gellar Now IN

I know that there are those of you out there that may have had an eye on Laura Gellar products that have until now only been sold online or on TSC. Well, Sephora now has a truncated version of the line available - they have her most popular products in! The Spackle Trio, and Lip and Eye Spackle Duo are both in stores.

I also spotted the Bronze-N-Brighten, though for the life of me, I can't figure out why this is so popular. I'm not saying that it's not a good bronzer and that it won't brighten up your skin. I am just not wowed by the whole marbled compact marketing campaign. Look, once your swirl your brush in (or run your finger through) the compact, you basically end up with a shimmery pinkish bronze that you then dust on your face. Well, wouldn't putting that pinkish bronze shade (already blended, I mean) in a compact be a better idea because it would give you more consistent colour? Why the marbling? Oh, and don't even bother telling me that I can pick out just the pink or the brown and use them as eye shadows - who would actually do that? Anyway, perhaps you will like the pinky-bronze colour that this compact yields and let me know if you do. The powder itself is smooth and easy to apply.

New Estee Lauder Collection!

Listen up - Tom Ford has designed his final collection for Estee Lauder and Holt Renfrew is now taking advance orders for it!

The collection is called Azuree Soleil and has a range of pinky-plummy colours, called Soiree, and then a range of more bronze shades, called Bronzee. As can be expected from Estee Lauder, the formulations are amazing.

If you've been looking for a highlighter that's not too shimmery, you must check out The Face Sheen which goes on so smoothly and has just the right amount of shimmer and gloss.

Tom Ford has also created a new scent to go with the collection - it's called Tom Ford Azuree Soleil. Finally, a summer fragrance that doesn't smell like suntan oil or a margarita. The Estee Lauder website says that there are notes of Sandalwood, Gardenia petals, Coconuts, and Orange Blossom, among other things, but I couldn't recognize any of those when I smell it. To me, it just smells of the ocean and it's a nice pleasing scent - not too fresh and not too warm.

Great Beauty Reads

Ageless in Los Angeles talks about new Prom beauty.

All Lacquered Up tells us about the chemicals in nail polishes.

Pretty By Nature tells us about PhytoOrganics - a hair care line from Nexxus.


Alrighty, well that's all for this week. Have a wonderful weekend!

Canadian Beauty News: April 27, 2007

This week, some lovely new summer products are now in, so here's a rundown of what's on shelves and what's worth a peek:

Dior Event and Products:

I had a chance to go down to Holt Renfrew and took part in one of their Beauty Cuisine events, one run by the Christian Dior counter (the event continues all weekend) and was thoroughly impressed. My makeup was touched up by one of their national make-up artists (the girl who did mine was Erica, and she was really good), who knew all the products inside and out.

I had a bit of bronzer put on me from the new Dior Bronze Sun Couture palette and I loved the effect. Instead of being too orange or shimmery, my skin looked glowy and the tan was reddish because the darkest shade of the palette was used. The lip gloss is also really nice and matches tanned skin beautifully. This palette is now in stores, so if you're in the market for a beautiful bronzer, my pick is this one.

Dior has also added to their backstage collection by adding a line of blushes and eyeshadows. Check out the Pro Cheeks Ultra-Radiant Blush and Eye Show. Both products use the new mousse technology that we're seeing in all cosmetics these days. The formulations are nice and the products are smooth to feel. The blushes have shimmer but with the exception of the colour on the left (called Limelight) they don't have that much shimmer in them. The eyeshadows do, but that's to be expected I suppose. If you like Dior and you're a fan of mousse blushes and eyeshadows, you will probably like these products too!

New Benefit Line

Hate though I do their packaging, I love Benefit and could not wait to check out their new collection that just came out. Included in the line is a new kind of lipstick in many colours, 3 new blushes, and a range of cream shadow/liner.

The star of the collection is most definitely the Silky-Finish Lipstick. Before I had a chance to see the lipstick I thought that it would be something silicon-based and would glide on to my lips. It's not silicon-based and it's not really silky-finished either. This lipstick is more of a gloss with a medium amount of pigment in it. Like all glosses, the colour can be worn sheer or at full potential and the lipsticks have a high amount of shine and absolutely no stickiness. I truly had a difficult time finding a favorite colour because they're all amazing! Because the lipsticks go on so sheer, I found that I could pull of a variety of colours, from reds to raisins, neutrals to nudes. In the end, I found that my favorite colour was Candy Store which was a pink with a nice copper shimmer in it. Still, like I said, the colour selection is awesome and the lipstick goes on sheer and glossy so chances are that you'll find something you like too!

The blush is nice but it's a pretty standard cream-to-powder formula, and the Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner is a good option if you've been looking for a creaseless shadow that comes in dark colours. The pots that the shadows are in are pretty big too, so you do get bang for your buck.

Fragrance Winner

The 2007 Canadian Fragrance Awards were last night, and Tom Ford Black Orchid won the award for "Best Luxe Launch"! Congratulations Tom Ford Perfumes!







British Line Launched in Canada

Last week, I was flipping through this month's Glow magazine and I saw that Shoppers Drug Mart will not be selling No. 7 and Botanics in their stores. The advertising campaign says that this is a popular British line that is finally coming to Canada!

"Meh," say I.

Let me break it down for you: Boots is a British drug store much like our own Shoppers Drug Mart except perhaps more widespread as the market in England is larger. Both the No. 7 line and the Botanics line is Boots own line of products. There's nothing wrong with that, but what it means is that they're pretty much the same as Shopper Drug Mart's own Life Brand and Quo makeup lines.

Why Shoppers would want to peddle the products of other drug stores is absolutely beyond me. They're introducing a line that competes directly with their own! All the lines usually carry cheaper imitations of regular products - for example Quo has a makeup primer that is a lot like the Smashbox one - it even comes in a similar-looking bottle. No. 7 (the makeup line) and Botanics (body care) usually play by those same rules - they'll have imitation bronzers, self-tanners, serums, etc. that are cheaper and packaged to fool you into thinking they're the same. How they stack up against the products they copy is yet to be determined but you get the idea.

The British brands are also offered south of the border, but I still don't see what the fuss is about. Yes they're good but they're not exactly anything revolutionary. If I'm going to buy a cheap(er) drugstore brand of anything (and I do once in a while) I'm going to be sticking to the Canadian Life Brand or even Quo.

Great Beauty Reads:

Elke reviews the Nivea Microdermabrasion Kit.

eBeauty Daily tests the GlowFusion spray tanner.

Ageless in Los Angeles tells us about the PureOlogy Serious Colour Hair Products To Help Fight Ovarian Cancer.


That's all for this week! I'm going to continue to review a few more coloured mascaras next week so I'll be back to reviewing those tomorrow! If you haven't seen the mascaras reviewd so far, click here to see the coloured mascara reviews! Have a lovely weekend.

Naturally Luminous: Meet the New Members of Cover Girl's Trublend Family

I've long been wary of products with shimmer in them. Some of them tend to make you look all shimmery like a Christmas tree ornament. Yes, ornaments are pretty and nice to look at, but all that shimmer makes it so obvious that you're wearing makeup!

Well, the cosmetics industry is learning and not every product is overly glitzy. Enter Cover Girl's Trublend Naturally Luminous Powders. The collection includes blushes, bronzers, and translucent powder. All the ingredients are the same and so my tip is to ignore the labels and think of these as a whole group of powders that come in different colours - use them however you please. If you're dark enough, use the bronzer as a setting powder all over your face. If your skin has pink undertones, you might want to use the lightest shade of blush as a luminizer. Don't get boxed in - the colours are sheer and easy to work with.

All the powders are nice for setting foundation. They are light and don't cake. As I've already said, they have the perfect amount of shimmer and give your face a nice glow. I like to wear the translucent powder on days that I'm not wearing any foundation at all but still want to give my skin a light dusting of a little something extra.

And like the rest of the Trublend line, there's something for everyone in this collection - don't stress about choosing the right colour because the shades are so sheer that chances are they will blend in naturally. The Naturally Luminous Line should be available everywhere come February.