Makeup by One Direction Giveaway!

Another giveaway! What-the-what?! It's true! One Direction are releasing a new makeup collection in collaboration with Markwin's and one lucky blog reader will have the chance to win one of the following makeup sets:

Midnight Memories Kit

 

Includes:

• "Through the Dark" Liquilights Glow Gloss (gloss that glows under UV light)
• 4+1 Eyeshadow Palette including:
• "Little White Lies" (palest warm grey)
• "Don't Forget Where You Belong" (soft pink shimmer)
• "Half a Heart" (metal grey)
• "Strong" (charcoal black matte shimmer)
• "Midnight Memories" (silver glitter creme)
• "Best Song Ever" (crimson red creme lipstick)
• "Little Black Dress" volumizing mascara
• "Right Now" (liquified metallic steel nail varnish)
• "Better Than Words" (blackest black eye and body crayon)
• 5 piece decorator stencil set

Take Me Home Kit

Includes:

• "Kiss You" Liquilights Glow Gloss (gloss that glows under UV light)
• 4+1 Eyeshadow Palette including:
• "Back for You" (velvet creme)
• "Change My Mind" (peachy shimmer)
• "C'mon C'mon" (soft taupe)
• "Little Things" (smoky brown)
• "Take Me Home" (golden glitter creme)
• "Last First Kiss" (nude pink shimmer lipstick)
• "Little Black Dress" volumizing mascara
• "Live While We're Young" (multi-dimensional gold glitter nail varnish)
• "I Wish" (warm chocolate brown eye and body crayon)
• 5 piece decorator stencil set

Up All Night Kit

Includes:

• "Taken" Liquilights glow gloss (gloss that glows under UV light)
• 4+1 Eye Palette including:
• "More Than This" (soft blushing pink)
• "Gotta Be You" (silvered taupe shimmer)
• "Save You Tonight" (shimmering turquoise blue)
• "Another You" (royal blue shimmer)
• "Up All Night" (sapphire glitter creme)
• "I Should Have Kissed You" (bubblegum pink creme lipstick)
• "Little Black Dress" volumizing mascara
• "Na Na Na" (aqua blue metallic chrome nail varnish)
• "Stand Up" (dark denim eye and body crayon)
• 5 piece decorator stencil set

These sets are available for sale in the US starting August 11 and international release dates will be announced soon. I will be doing a review soon of the makeup sets with the help of my assistant/1D superfan Aislinn, so stay tuned. :)

In the meantime, enter now for your chance to win one of these awesome makeup kits, and for more info on Makeup by One Direction, visit www.facebook.com/makeupbyonedirection.

Post sponsored by BrandBacker.

July 2014 Topbox Review

This evening's review is on the July Topbox. For those of you who don't know, Topbox is a monthly beauty subscription box. For $12/month (free shipping!), you receive 4 deluxe beauty samples (heads up though, there is a waiting list to subscribe). Let's see this month's box:

I received:

• CND Vinylux Weekly Nail Polish in Wildfire (www.cnd.com)
• CND Vinylux Weekly Top Coat (www.cnd.com)
• StriVectin-SD Eye Concentrate for Wrinkles (www.strivectin.com)
• theBalm Cosmetics INSTAIN Long-Wearing Powder Staining Blush in Swiss Dot (www.thebalm.com)

I was not super impressed to see red nail polish because I HAVE SO MUCH. That said, I really like CND's Vinylux nail system. When the polish is used with the top coat, it is supposed to last up to a week without chipping. It applied nice and thin but with good colour coverage and a nice gloss. It did actually last a week with minimal chipping (I expected some, I worked in the house and garden during the week).

The StriVectin-SD came in a good sized tube for an eye concentrate sample, which was great. The cream applies nicely, but it's too early to see results yet. The blush from theBalm was okay. It was long lasting, but the colour was too dark and concentrated for me. :/

Overall, this month's Topbox was meh. It didn't blow me away, it just felt like same old. Hopefully next month's Topbox will hold more interesting things!

For more info about Topbox, visit www.topbox.ca

Dove Go Sleeveless Anti-Perspirant Review

I had the chance recently to try out Dove's Go Sleeveless antiperspirant courtesy of Chick Advisor's Product Review Club. I'm a big fan of Dove products, especially their gentleness on skin, so I was very excited to receive this product.

The type of Go Sleeveless antiperspirant I received was Beauty Finish, which has a light powder scent. Go Sleeveless promises to give you softer armpits within 3 days. I was dubious of this claim, but it's actually true! My skin was much softer and less susceptible to razor rash. I also found the wetness and odour protection lasted all day, which is quite the feat considering the hot summer we've had!

This is definitely a product I would buy again. I love it's "gentle strength" and the varieties it comes in (Shea Butter,  Soothing Chamomile, Original, Unscented). Another great thing - right now Dove has a coupon for $2 off the purchase of any Dove antiperspirant! Get yours here (while supplies last).

The Great Nail Polish Giveaway!

The great people at NailPolishCanada.com are hosting a fabulous nail polish giveaway! Bloggers from across the internet are each picking shades to be given away from over 10 different brands - up to 200 nail polishes are available to be won!

AwesPosBlog is participating in the giveaway and the shade we've chosen is Belugaria by Essie.

Photo credit: thebeautyexperience.annabelle.ch

I've been eyeing this shade at work. It looks so interesting with the sparkles in the black polish and its interesting texture. Here is it swatched:

Photo credit: Beautezine.com

I've never seen another nail polish like it and I love it's uniqueness. It's definitely on my nail polish wish list! Anyways, on to the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Almay Cosmetics Review

Almay was kind enough to send me a selection of their products to try recently. I've loved Almay for a long time. My favourite item is their i-color eye shadow kit. The great thing about Almay products is that they're made for sensitive skin, meaning they are hypoallergenic and fragrance-free.

I was able to try some cool items I have never tried before. Let's take a look:

Here are the products (l-r):

• Almay smart shade powder blush in Pink
• Almay color + care liquid lip balm in Lilac Love
• Almay smart shade skintone matching makeup in Light
• Almay smart shade CC luminous primer 
• Almay shadow softies by intense i-color eyeshadow in Petal
• Almay smart shade CC concealer + brightener in Light Pale

The smart shade products are really great because they are formulated to match your skin tone. The smart shade skin tone matching makeup contains Almay's new tonemimic™ shade-sensing bead technology that helps the foundation transform into your skintone. The smart shade powder blush has a 3-colour combination that creates a natural-looking flush on your skin. The smart shade CC luminous primer is WONDERFUL. It's like using Photoshop on your face! It covers skin imperfections and evens skintone. A perfect compliment to these smart shade products is the smart shade CC corrector + brightener. The concealer works to hide blemishes while the brightener brightens dark spots and discolouration.

The shadow softies by intense i-color eyeshadow is a really soft, light feeling cream shadow. The colour I received, Petal, is a bit too light for me, but it makes a nice accent colour. The last product, color + care liquid lip balm is a product I've been dying to try since I spotted it at work. This lip balm moisturizes while leaving a lush shine. I loved the Lilac Love shade sent to me but I really want to try Apple a Day!

Here is my look with the products. The side on the left is without makeup, and the side on the right is after using all of the Almay products (I don't have a great camera so it's hard to get a lot of detail):

It's a subtle, natural look, but I really like how the makeup hid my skin flaws (I'm dealing with some breakouts right now).

Almay products are great products for a great price and I genuinely really like them. For more info on Almay products, visit Almay.com

Less Than Great Moments in Technology

This has not been a great month for technology here at AwesPosBlog. In addition to having a memory card full of blog photos wiped (see previous post), the main laptop used for blog posts crashed, meaning new photos taken to replace the lost ones were now also lost. Sigh.

Fear not though! The computer issues are resolved finally! Gear up for new posts soon and thank you for your patience.

Also coming soon? A giveaway. Stay tuned ;)

Perfect Summer Activity - KidsBowlFree.com

Looking for something to do with the kids this summer? Bowling is great! Not only is it great exercise, but it's indoors, and indoors often = air-conditioning!

KidsBowlFree.com offers kids 2 free games of bowling a day all summer long at your local bowling alley. All you pay for is the shoe rental. You can even add on a family pass for $24.95 USD - this allows up to 4 adults to play with the kids all summer long! There are participating bowling alleys all across Canada and the US. We are lucky enough to have one right around the corner from us in St. Catharines, Fairview Lanes (www.fairviewlanes.ca)

We took our first family trip to Fairview yesterday. I used to play there all the time when I was in high school. Mike had previously bowled in youth leagues when he was a kid in Toronto. Hudson had never bowled before, but Aislinn had gone once on a trip for school last year.

The visit only cost us $8 for shoe rentals. We chose a 5-pin lane with bumpers, but we had our option of 10-pin as well, and no bumpers. We figured we made the best choice for beginner bowlers.

Here is Mike showing Aislinn how to bowl:

SO GLAD we went with the bumpers because it would have been a disappointing game for the kids otherwise. This way they could focus on learning how to throw and other basics of the game.

The kids got the hang of it quickly, especially Hudson, as evidenced by the scores:

All I can say in my defence is that it's been a long time since I've played? I do much prefer 10-pin, so we'll probably try that with the kids next time.

One great thing that came out of this was that it was an opportunity to teach the kids about being a good sport and a bad sport. Hudson was bragging and rubbing it in Aislinn's face that he was winning, the first game, then pouting when he didn't do as well the second game. We all had a good sit down to talk about why it was important to win graciously, and just to enjoy the game and not worry about scores. We all had a much better time after that.

The kids had a blast overall, and I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to bowl all summer long.

For more information on the Kids Bowl Free program, visit www.kidsbowlfree.com