Project Meltdown & FOTD

This weekend I will be melting down all my lipsticks and placing them in these handy little pill boxes so they take up less space in my kit.

I will have pictures and all the 'how to' info on Monday for you ;)

From this.....



To this!!




Just for fun how about a Face of the day pic using some of the Joe Fresh items I talked about yesterday!



Face:

• Gosh Cosmetics foundation primer
• Makeup Forever salmon color corrector under eyes
• Vasanti Cosmetics liquid foundation in V2
  
• Carol Baker Visage Mineral powder
• Mac 'Coygirl' powder blush
• Mac 'Sunbasque' powder blush
• Mac 'Soft & Gentle' Mineralized Skin Finish

Eyes:

• Mac 'Shroom' eyeshadow
• Some random Japanese sparkle dust (sorry dont know the name)
• Joe Fresh Fine Tip Pen Liner in Balck
• Cover Girl Lashblast Mascara in Very Black
• Joe Fresh eyeliner in Pearl on inside lower water line

Lips:

• Joe Fresh cream lipstick in Cinnomon
• Joe Fresh lipgloss in Candy
  

Have a great Long (in Canada!) Weekend ;)

xoxo
Farah

Joe Fresh Makeup Haul, Swatches & Review

The other day I did a review on one of Joe Fresh's lipstick and it got me thinking about all my other Joe Fresh makeup so I thought Id go through it and give my thoughts on the items I have and have tested.

(Left to Right)
Cheek Tint in Nude
Pencil Eyeliner in Pearl
Fine Tip Liquid Eyeliner in Black
Cream Lipstick in Cinnamon
Lip Gloss in Candy
Lip Stain in Sheer Pink
Eyeshadow in Plum
Eyeshadow in Black

Reviews:
Cheek Tint in Nude
--------------------
I bought this as a cream highlighter but honestly I have only used it once. I'm more of a powder highlight lover but will give this item another chance one of these days.

Pencil Eyeliner in Pearl
------------------------
I use this eyeliner daily to line my inner lower waterline. The pigment is ok but for approx $4 cdn I don't mind keeping this in my personal kit. For professional use I like Lise Watier or Mac's white liners. *Tip: white liner on your lower waterline can help eyes appear bigger and make you look more awake!

Fine Tip Liquid Eyeliner in Black
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Again another item I use daily! This item has got to be my favorite Joe Fresh item because its SO easy to use and makes a perfect line every time. It is not however ideal for a professional kit or for sharing as there is really no way to sanitize it. This item comes in black and brown only which is the only disappointing thing about this product.

Cream Lipstick in Cinnamon
-----------------------------
Please see my review for this item HERE!

Lip Gloss in Candy
-------------------
This gloss looks great alone (see pic) or on top of any lipstick. Its not really sticky which is key for me and comes with a brush applicator. I like this product and there is really nothing bad to say about it.

Lip Stain in Sheer Pink
------------------------
This item ROCKS! I compared Joes Fresh's lip stain to CoverGirl's Outlast lip stain and the results shocked me. As you can see below I swatched CG's on top and JF's on the bottom. After 30 mins I rubbed my finger over the two and found that CG's swatch rubbed off slightly while JF's didn't budge. I then washed my hands and CG's swatch was totally gone where as JF's swatch was still about 10% there.

Not what I expected but I was happy that something that costs about $8 cdn beat out a product that is slightly more expensive at $11 cdn and attached to a more well known brand name.

That being said I do wear this lip stain on occasion and notice that after my morning coffee the color is substantially less. You will most likely have to re-apply this stain after you eat or drink but if you aren't fond of the feeling of lipstick or gloss on your lips this is a great alternative!

Eyeshadow in Plum & Eyeshadow in Black
-------------------------------------------
I have only tested these 2 colors and so far I'm pretty impressed that for approx $4 cdn you can get shadows this pigmented. These are great matte colors and you can see from the swatches below that the color pay off isn't bad. These dark shades are great for placing in your crease or outer "V" and blend nicely. I wouldn't mind testing out some of their shimmer or frost colors just to see if the pigments are the same.

Joe Fresh's beauty prices are very reasonable so why not give it a try ;)

xoxo
Farah

Gosh Cosmetics Velvet Touch Foundation Primer Review

Gosh Cosmetics
Velvet Touch Foundation Primer

Normal Formula Vs. Anti Wrinkle Formula

First I want to say I am a huge fan of this line in general But....

This is the image that Gosh Cosmetics has on their site and I don't find it to be a true representation of what it looks like in real life.
What does it really look like?
THIS!

When I first saw it at my local Shoppers Drug Mart where this line is exclusively sold I immediately thought it was a bad batch of the regular primer. The packaging at first glance is the same except the primer gel looked yellow or dirty.

I picked it up and read closely to notice the words "Anti Wrinkle" on it. Even though it looked so unappealing in color I decided to try it because anti wrinkle gets me every time!

I have to say I am NOT impressed with this new formula at all!
I am an avid user of the regular formula and am always raving about it because for the price approx. $23 Cdn its a great product but with the new formula I found that it balled when applying.

I noticed tiny silicone beads on my fingers and on my face after applying it. The normal formula goes on smooth and there is no residue or beading at all. This was the result every time I used it and I have given it many chances!

Because of this reason I won't be repurchasing the Anti Wrinkle formula ever again for personal use let alone even think about adding it to my kit.

I give Gosh Cosmetics Velvet Touch Foundation Prime "Anti-Wrinkle" (only) a 2 THUMBS DOWN!

xoxo
Farah

Engagement Celebrations and Makeup!

This past weekend one of my best friends had her engagement party. She had asked me a while ago if I could do her makeup for this event and of course being her BFF and MOH I quickly agreed.

Her dress was a beautiful peach color and she wanted to incorporate some of those shades in her makeup so this is what I came up with. These pics were all taken before mascara as she wanted to do that at the last minute before she left the house.
Doesn't she look hot?!

She glowed like a future bride and looked like the princess she is :)

I was so happy with how the overall look turned out given we had no trial and just kinda went with the flow and so honored that I got to beautify my BFF on her special day.

I also picked up a new blush from MAC called Style which is an amazing peach color I mixed that with Peachykeen also by MAC on her cheeks and it worked well.

xoxo
Farah

Carol Baker Visage SALE!!

I got an email today from Carol Baker Visage (Only in Ontario, Canada) letting me know of a massive skin care & cosmetics customer appreciation sale so I thought I'd pass along the info ;)

Customer Appreciation Sale! July 23rd - August 19th, 2009

(Click on the picture to get to the site and see the amazing deals)

I think ill stock up on their brushes since I have a few and really like them. Also if you're a member like I am you save even more!!

Enjoy ;)

xoxo
Farah

Joe Fresh Makeup Not Bad!

As a makeup artist and lover I was very intrigued when I happened to stumble upon the Joe Fresh makeup line while grocery shopping at Loblaws a while back.

I was really curious and thought it would just be low pigment cheap stuff since the prices were SO low. Well you know what they say, never judge a book by its cover because the more I play around with this line the more I really like it.

One of the items I decided to test out was their cream lipstick in Cinnamon - $6.00 cdn It looks a lot darker in the picture and in the tube but once applied it goes on really creamy and more of a coral nude colour. I adore the nude lip look so I was sold!

It isn't long lasting by any means but it I like the moisturizing feeling it leaves on my lips which is HUGE for a anti-lip anything girl like me.

"Creamy, moisturizing lip colour keeps lips feeling soft with every use." - Joe.ca

I decided this morning to pair it with my Lorac lipgloss in Attrax (on right) and this is the look I got.

Here is a swatch of just the cream lipstick.
Here without the flash which is more of the true colour.


Here with the flash to show you just how shiny and creamy the texture is.

I have a few other items from the Joe Fresh line including a few eyeshadows ($4 each) which in my opinion are pretty pigmented, the fine liquid eyeliner pen ($6 each) which I use everyday because it is the easiest and fastest way to get my eyeliner perfect with one swoosh I highly recommend this for personal use only though and a few other random items.

Also I wanted to test out their brush line so I purchased the foundation brush @ $12.00 cdn and I gotta say I went back for seconds! I now have 2 of these, one personal and one in my kit. This brush gets a lot of compliments from my clients because of how soft it is so if you are looking for an inexpensive brush to apply your foundation I would recommend this one.

My only gripe with this line is that its never properly stocked at Loblaws. I have been waiting to buy a new eyeliner pen for ages with no luck! Granted I haven't searched other locations but if this is your stores brand shouldn't you keep it stocked properly??

Conclusion: I'm not sure if I would stock pile this entire line in my kit but I have no problems with using what works. That being said I personally use these products (foundations and powders excluded- haven't tried them) and am happy with them thus far so Id say give it a shot... at these prices you really cant go wrong!!

xoxo
Farah

Swimsuit Photoshoot Teaser Pics!

Yesterday I worked on a creative swimsuit photoshoot with the talented photographer Nawaz Pirani and 2 wonderful models Kristina and Kim.
We got some great shots and since this was my first shoot working with waterproof makeup I was excited to see how the makeup would hold up.

I'm happy to say that even after the models dunked their heads several times the makeups was still in tact and didn't budge.

Here are some unedited teaser pics that I loved...

Photographer: Nawaz Pirani
Makeup Artist: Farah Balolia - Faces By Farah
Model: Kristina Catherine

Photographer: Nawaz Pirani
Makeup Artist: Farah Balolia - Faces By Farah
Model: Kim

I had a blast working on this shoot and although I ended up with a pretty bad sunburn it was worth it :)

xoxo
Farah

Face Atelier Ultra Pro Foundation

After placing my test order a few months ago with Face Atelier and reading many reviews from other makeup artists on this foundation I finally placed my order.

I ordered #3 Wheat and #6 Honey. According to many reviews these plus the Zero Minus (white) & Zero Plus (dark brown) foundations I got a while ago, I would be able to create any shade. Why buy all the shades when you don't have to right?!

They came in today just in time for the weekend and a chance for me to test these babies out!
Ill keep you posted.




So far I've been really impressed with this company. From their customer service to their pro artists plans to their shipping. I have my eyes on a few more products from this great company and cant wait to try them all!

xoxo
Farah