I tried a number of new product lately and I thought it would be interesting to talk about it. This isn't exactly a first impression, but it isn't an in depth review either. It's somewhere in the middle.

AmorePacific Cushion Compact Foundation* in 102 Light (pink)
I still don't know what to think of this foundation. When I first apply it, it looks gorgeous. But as the day goes by, it seems to settle in dry skin. But the day that I took this picture, it didn't do that and looked good until I took it off. As I just wore make up for the sake of the picture, I didn't do my whole routine before it and applied it to bare skin. So I'm thinking maybe it interferes with another product I'm using underneath. I'll have to keep playing around with it to see what I'm doing wrong for it to look bad just on some days. Other than that, I love the whole cushion thing, it makes application so easy.

NYX Tinted Brow Mascara in Espresso
I have a love hate relationship with this product. Over all, I really like it but the wand is way too big and I often end up with gel outside of my brows that I have to clean up. I think if they would make it just a little bit smaller it would be a really great product.

Arbonne Smoothed Over Lipstick* in Iris
This one I just don't like. It is a really nice shade, but it doesn't go on even at all. At first I though it was just because my lips were dry, but then I did my whole lip care routine (LINK), ended up with really soft lips and it still was patchy. A few days ago, I tried to apply just a tin layer with a lip brush and it looked nice, like a berry tint. But I'm sad that I can't use it as a full on dark lipstick.

Have you tried any if these products? What were your thoughts?

Osheaga festival starts in only a few days now. So today I am pairing with essence cosmetic to bring a fun - and inexpensive - look for all you festivalers out there.

I love essence cosmetics, they have great products and are one of the least expensive make up brand out there. And I am all about great deals and saving money. You can find essence cosmetics at Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix.

The make up look is quite simple. I started with my usual base and applied the essence blush and bronzer as I would normally do. For the eye, I went for something neutral on top of which I use that gorgeous blue eyeliner, this is clearly what makes the look and adds the fun factor.

For the lips, I decided to go with SPF lip balm only, since my lips can be really sensitive, especially after a day in the sun.

Don't mind my crazy hair, it was way too hot to style it.

Here is the list of the products I used
Primer : The Body Shop All-In-One Instablur 5-Action Perfector
Foundation : L'Oréal True Match Lumi Foundation in N1-2
Under eye concealer : Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer
Blemishes concealer : Becca Dual Coverage Compact Concealer
Powder : essence All About Matt! Fixing Compact Powder
Brows : Anastasia Brow Wiz in dark Brown
Bronzer : essence Sun Club Matt Bronzing Powder in 01 Blonde
Blush : essence Silky Touch Blush in 80 Autumn Peach
Eyeshadows : essence Metal Glam Eyeshadows in 07 & Smokey Eyes Sets
Eyeliner : essence Long-Lasting Eye Pencil in 17
Mascara : essence Lash Princess Volume Mascara
Nail polish : essence Colour & Go in 128 Let's Get Lost

I thought I would also include an outfit option I would wear to Osheaga or any music festival.

What I am wearing
Shirt : Smart Set
Shorts : I don't know the actual brand, but I bought them at Winners
Kimono : Smart Set
Necklace : Bizou

I would like to thank everyone at the Canadian Beauty Blogger network for the amazing opportunities like this one. You are doing an amazing job!

What are your festival essentials and your go to look?

That kind of bronzy-golden eye shadow is 100% my favorite. I could own a million of these and still want more (dramatization). I think it adds a nice pop on the eye, while still being neutral. For this look, I piled on the bronze pigment as much as I could. I also added a generous amount on my lower lash line, which I rarely do. I also added a gold shadow in the inner corner of my eye. For the rest of my face, I kept it quite simple with a subtle blush and just a clear lip balm.

Products used :
Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Leather in 80 Creamy Beige
The Body Shop Color Crush in Bronze Bliss
Maybelline Color Tattoo Pure Pigments in 35 Breaking Bronze
L'Oréal la Couleur Infaillible Eyeshadow in 027 Goldmine
Covergirl Clean Oil Control Foundation in 525 Buff Beige
Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Mirage (limited edition)
Maybelline the Colossal Volum' Express Cat Eyes Mascara
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown

I like simple make up routines for busy or lazy mornings. Or for morning when I want to look pretty, but don't feel like doing anything crazy complicated aka more than one eye-shadow.

…What a weird smile I have on this one…

L'Oréal True Match Lumi in n1-2 Classic Ivory
The first stop of this make up routine is foundation. I heard good things about the original True Match foundation, but decided to go with this one as I thought it would suit my dry skin better. To be honest, it was not love at first use, but my skin was quite dry the first time I used it. Then I tried it with a damp sponge and my first impression changed. Up to now, every time I used it with a brush, things were looking really dry, though. But it does give a nice glow, as the name would suggest.

Becca Dual Coverage Compact Concealer in Latte
I like this one, because it has two sides, one extra coverage, and one medium coverage. The extra is really full coverage, with is good.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Mirage
Who doesn't like Tarte blushes? I feel like I hear about it everywhere (OK, mainly on blogs and youtube). This is the only one I own and it came in a set of two deluxe samples. I really love the color, which is a toned down peachy-pink. It's the perfect subtle color, when in doubt, this is always what I go for. I think it might be limited edition, because I can't find the color anywhere on their website.

Anastasia Brow Wiz in Dark Brown
Another product everybody talks about. I had a very hard time doing my brow before I tried this product. It took me a couple time to figure out the best way to use it, but it works. The only downside, it came broken. I can still use it, but if I try to flip it over to use the spooly, the product falls.

Maybelline The Colossal Cat Eye Mascara
It's not my favorite mascara by any means. I just try to get through it. It's not completely bad either, overall a pretty average mascara.

What are your staples when you do your make up? What step are you not willing to skip?

I have so many lipsticks, and guess what : I barely wear them! In the last year I had problems with my lips, as you can read here, in my lips care & story post. When I finally got my lips to their normal state, I was not used to wear bright lips anymore. So I ended up only wearing very neutral shades, or nothing at all. The fact that right now I'm staying home and barely put make up on at all did not help.

I've seen a couple of people doing a 30 days lipstick challenge. And I though it was great! But as I said, I barely go out at all, so what was the point of it? So I decided to do a 10 days challenge, over the course of one or two months (or three…).

This is what happened :

February 24 - Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella




March 3 - Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Sweet Tart




March 4 - Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick Matte in Smoked Peach (Isn't Lustrous and Matte kind of a contradiction?)




March 5 - Rimmel Provocalips 16hr Kiss Proof Lip Colour in Play With Fire





March 11 - Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede in Muse




March 13 - Maybelline Moisture Extreme in Windsor Rose




March 22 - Jordana Lipstick in Holiday Red




March 24 - Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick in 12




March 26 - Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon




April 1 - Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in Elusive


It was fun to force myself to wear my lipsticks. Do you think it's something you will do? I will keep on trying to use all of my lipsticks!

I was going to say "It's been a while since I did a FOTD" but I realize I actually never write any of these. I was about time! [Wait, scratch that. As I'm ready to publish this I see that I actually did a FOTD back in October, so not THAT long ago. Oups.]

I though about it a couple days ago, and I always wear my make up in a similar way. And I think I should try more things. I like trying new products, but if I always wear it the same way, what's the point? I don't know if it is something I would include in my New Year resolutions, but I definitely feel the need to try different looks.

Since it's the middle of winter, I thought I would do a winter inspired look. And what looks more like winter than flushed cheeks?

I decided that Covergirl & Olay Simply Ageless Sculpting blush (in 230) red blush would be the centerpiece of the look, pairing it with a sheer red lipstick (L'oréal Colorriche in 179 cherry tulle), a somewhat mat base (using Tarte smooth operator amazonian clay finishing powder to mattify my face) and a simple eye (with The bodyShop Color Crush eyeshots in 201 Melt my heart & 210 Bronze bliss, a little bit of eyeliner at the base of the lashes and marcara).

I really enjoyed putting the look and this blog post together!

Do you always wear your make up like me and feel like changing it up? What new do you want to try?

See you next week! Until then you can follow me on Instagram(@gedots) and Twitter(@gebblog)!