Product Review: trèStiQue Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon *UPDATE*

Just wanted to post a quick follow-up to my review of trèStiQue's Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon! Today, I received my replacement shiny lip balm in the mail. Included was a lovely handwritten note from Jenn, one of trèStiQue's co-founders!

Handwritten note from Jenn!

I cannot say enough about the quality of trèStiQue's lip products and their excellent customer service! They are just wonderful! Thank you again, and I look forward to trying out more products soon!

Product Review: trèStiQue Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon

trèStiQue Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon

As previously mentioned, I spent a considerable amount of time at the trèStiQue booth during Generation Beauty and fell in love with the makeup they have to offer. As a frequent traveler and someone who spends very little time applying makeup in the morning, I tend to gravitate towards products that are portable and multifunctional. According the website, "trèStiQue was founded by two industry veterans who believe: makeup should be simple for everyday and quick." This philosophy is perfectly in line with my personal habits!

Lip Crayon unboxed

Today, I'll be reviewing trèStiQue's Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon in Florence Fig and Rose Balm. This item retails on the trèStiQue site for $28, but I purchased it for 15% off at Generation Beauty.

Lip Crayon in Florence Fig and Rose Balm

With their patent pending 2-in-1 system, trèStiQue uses high quality makeup and employs magnets and tools to create a custom makeup pencil you can take anywhere! While trèStiQue's Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon comes with a lip color and a moisturizing balm, you can easily twist off the balm and replace it with a lip brush (sold separately).

Matte Color side in Florence Fig

My favorite part of this lip duo is by far the matte lip color, which is a beautiful neutral pink that enhances my natural lip color. My job's dress code specifically prohibits bright makeup colors, so this is perfect for me! Additionally, the formula glides on smoothly, doesn't bleed, and is pretty moisturizing on its own. If I need additional moisture, I just flip the pencil over and apply the Rose Balm on the other side!

Shiny Balm side in Rose Balm

The balm twists off and can be replaced by a lip brush (sold separately)

The Rose Balm is a sheer pink that can be used over the lip crayon without any color change. I really like how the balm moisturizes your lips and provides shine without the sticky, gooey feeling you get from most lip glosses. I just wish they gave you more balm!

Swatches in sunlight

Swatches under fluorescent bathroom light

My main problem with trèStiQue's Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon is the packaging. When removing the magnetic cap from the matte lip color, I have to be careful not to nick the product itself. Unfortunately, the balm side uses a non-magnetic cap that takes some effort to carefully snap off without touching the product. In fact, the first time I took the cap off the balm, I ended up denting the product.

Dented lip balm :(

The second time, I accidentally broke the product off completely, leaving me really, really sad.

Broken lip balm :(

Fortunately, trèStiQue has a return/exchange policy, so I've e-mailed them and am waiting for a response. As much as I'd hate to part with the beautiful Florence Fig, the broken Shiny Balm is pretty much unusable at this point. Next time, I'll have to be a lot more careful, but trèStiQue should really consider making their products completely retractable to avoid damage while removing the caps!
*UPDATE* I received a response from trèStiQue's wonderful customer service and they are sending me a replacement balm! I am so happy! Thank you so much!

Critiques aside, I highly recommended trèStiQue due to their quality, portability, and simplicity of use! I look forward to trying their other products and vastly lightening my makeup load the next time I travel!

Generation Beauty 2015 Review

After a most enjoyable trip to Disneyland, it was time to meet up with my friend for our second annual trip to Generation Beauty! For last year's recap of Generation Beauty, please go here: Much Needed Self-Care: Generation Beauty 2014

Generation Beauty is a makeup convention sponsored by ipsy which started in 2013 with 1000 attendees (as announced at the start of the event). Since then, Generation Beauty has grown to over 4000 attendees, with an additional convention taking place in the fall in New York. The two-day event starts on Friday night with a special invite-only party for special guests. Following that are two days where attendees have an opportunity to mingle with representatives from various makeup brands and attend mini-panels with their favorite bloggers and vloggers.

As I've mentioned previously, I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to everything makeup related. While I spend more than I'd like to admit on cosmetics, I do not follow any makeup bloggers/vloggers and frankly have questionable makeup application abilities. In fact, my morning makeup routine involves applying sunscreen, quickly drawing on eyeliner (and mascara if I feel like it), and slapping on blush/powder before running out the door to sit in traffic. If I remember, I apply lipstick/gloss once I get to work (in non-patient care areas as per OHSA guidelines).

Generation Beauty appeals to me not only because I get to learn more about makeup, but because I get hundreds of dollars worth of free swag! As someone who tries to live on a budget, I can't help but love free stuff! Here's a rundown of the weekend:

Saturday morning, I show up to L.A. Live to check in and pick up my badge for the weekend. Included with the badge is a tote bag (to hold swag), a sheet of coupons you exchange at each booth for makeup, coupons for Saturday and Sunday's swag bags, and a box of water!

Water in a box!

Upon entering the venue, my friend and I made a beeline to the Bare Minerals booth, one which had notorious long lines last year. We were the last people in line before staff members closed it off, likely for fire code reasons. Typically, the booths with the longest lines offered some service such as makeovers, hairstyling, foundation color matching, and interactive games for prizes. For those considering going to Generation Beauty next year, I highly recommend comfortable shoes and a lot of patience as you will be standing in line most of the day! Another tactic is to bring a friend so you can take turns exploring other booths while the other waits in line!

The inside of L.A. Live, where Generation Beauty is held

Another important item to bring to Generation Beauty is your smartphone (or wifi supported device). Generation Beauty is a social media heavy event, with many companies offering freebies if you tweet/facebook/instagram using certain hashtags. Additionally, if you had the Generation Beauty app, you could check into certain booths for additional freebies (on top of the paper coupons).

Many companies offered freebies for posting certain hashtags on social media. IT Cosmetics gave me a tote bag for posting this pic!

My friend and I spent day one focusing on getting as many free stuff as possible. By the end of day one, I had managed to fill an entire tote bag with makeup, not including a swag bag given to each attendee. It certainly felt like Halloween, but less sugary.

Generation Beauty Day One Haul

Contents of Day One Swag Bag

On day two, I focused more on experiencing the convention than collecting free stuff. I had exchanged most of my coupons by the end of day one, and while Greyhound fortunately allows for a second carry-on bag, I was fast running out of space! Hence, I spent the day getting my hair done at Oscar Blandi and getting a makeover at the Smashbox booth. It's not everyday I get to try out a new hairstyle or have a makeup artist work on my face! Sadly, day two was only four hours long and over way too soon!

Generation Beauty Day Two Haul

Contents of Day Two Swag Bag

 Here are some of my favorite swag from the weekend:

Too Faced Born This Way Foundation

While Too Faced had a really long line that was frequently closed off, the wait was worth it as they color matched you to their latest foundation and have you a full-sized bottle! This foundation doesn't launch until June 15, so it was great of Too Faced to be so generous with their sneak peak.

Jouer Sparkle & Shine Holiday Party Favor

Inside contents minus noisemaker

Jouer was definitely one of the more generous booths of Generation Beauty, giving away two lipsticks, a small box of samples, and this adorable party favor with a mini lip gloss, accessories, and noisemaker (not pictured). I may get a few of these favors to give away as gifts this holiday season!

tre'StiQue Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon in Florence Fig and Rose Balm

Generation Beauty tre'StiQue Booth

One of my favorite booths at Generation Beauty was tre'StiQue, a new company specializing in travel-friendly makeup. As someone who travels frequently, I love the idea of space minimizing multitaskers, especially when it comes to makeup! While technically not a freebie, I got their matte color and shine balm lip crayon for 15% off and hope to try their other products in the future!

Tote Bag from Pacifica Beauty

In an attempt to pack light, I traveled down to Southern California with a small rolling duffel bag. Sadly, it was not enough to fit all the swag I received during Generation Beauty. Fortunately, Pacifica Beauty gave away this sturdy canvas tote which safely held all my goodies during the long bus ride up to the Bay Area.

Generation Beauty is a young convention that is rapidly growing in size. At this rate, unless ipsy decides to implement more stringent capping measures, I anticipate that the event may have to eventually move to a larger venue. I'm excited for Generation Beauty's potential, and hope to continue attending more conventions in the future!

What an busy and eventful week an a half! Now it's time to recover from whatever bug I contracted, make money, and plan my next series of excursions. Yay for summer travel!

Thank you, LUSH Cosmetics!

I love getting mail!

As mentioned in my previous post, I won LUSH's #freshnewlush contest during Generation Beauty.  My prizes came in the mail, and I thought I'd share some pics and thoughts on each product!

LUSH sent me 6 full-sized products!  So generous of them!

LUSH sent me a total of six products: African Paradise Body Conditioner, Zeste Medium to Short Hair Gelly, D'Fluff Strawberry Shaving Soap, Granny Takes a Dip Bath Bomb, and bar soaps in Parsley Porridge and Mangnificent.  Since LUSH products tend to have slightly shorter expiration dates because they have no preservatives, I went ahead and opened them up!

Granny Takes a Dip

Granny Takes a Dip is an invigorating bath bomb with lemon oil, ginger, and pepper.  Its psychedelic look reminds me of a bubble gum flavored popsicle I used to eat as a kid!  I still need to clean and disinfect my bathtub before I try this out, but in the meantime check out this video of it fizzing here: Granny Takes a Dip

Magnificent (left) and Parsley Porridge soap bars from Generation Beauty for reference

Mangnificent and Parsley Porridge soap bars were also in my swag bag during Generation Beauty.  Mangnificent, made with natural ingredients such as mango and various fruit oils (including neroli) has a candy-like citrus tropical smell.  Perfect for aromatherapy after a stressful day at work!  Parsley Porridge, on the other hand, is made with ingredients such as tea tree oil, aloe vera, thyme, and parsley and has a refreshing herbal scent.  Intended as a detoxifying soap, I'm looking forward to see if it has any clarifying effects on my skin! 

D'Fluff Strawberry Shaving Soap

D'Fluff has a sweet floral chocolate covered strawberry scent.  Makes sense since the product is made with strawberries, rosehip oil, and cocoa butter.  While I usually epilate (saves on the cost of razors and shaving), I gave D'Fluff a try and found that it made my skin slippery enough for a smooth shave.  However, be careful that none of the product accidentally washes off prior to shaving!  I'd turn off the shower before using this.

Zeste Medium to Strong Hair Gelly

Zeste is made with avocado and citrus oil and smells like guacamole according to my boyfriend.  Personally, I like the avocado citrus scent, but it may be too strong depending on your environment/workplace.  This will be a product I use when I'm not in a hospital setting.

Zeste on my hand

At first, I was confused as how to use Zeste because I couldn't seem to get any on my finger.  Then I read the directions and dumped the entire container onto my hand, which came out as a dense, conglomerated blob of gel.  Passing the blob between my two hands coated them with just the right around of product.  Zeste does provide decent, non-crispy hold, but I'd recommend not using too much to prevent oily, bogged down hair.

African Paradise Body Conditioner

African Paradise Body Conditioner is chock full of moisturizers (aloe gel, shea butter, cocoa butter), natural oils (almond, moringa, marula, baobab, Kahari melon, ylang ylang, clove bud, and sandalwood), and mango juice.  Its complex scent is something I can best describe as an earthier version of a moringa shower gel I use.

At first, I had trouble getting the product on my body and made a huge mess in my shower.  This is definitely another product where I'd recommend turning off the shower or stepping away from the water stream before using.  However, a quick rub and rinse of African Paradise reveals smooth and glowing skin that eliminates the need for lotion.  Also 24 hours later, I still can't believe how soft my skin is!  As someone who hates applying lotion after a shower, I plan on repurchasing this product (and all its iterations) over and over again!  By far my favorite prize of the bunch!


I will admit that LUSH is not the most affordable cosmetics and body care company out there.  However, they are certainly one of the greenest with their use of natural ingredients, recycled packaging, non-animal/human testing practices, and environmental activism.  This, coupled with the quality and longevity (especially in the case of their solid shampoo) of products makes it worth the occasional splurge!  Thank you again for the prizes, LUSH!  I will see you at next year's Generation Beauty and really soon at my nearby mall!

*Disclaimer* I am not affiliated with LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics in any way, shape, or form.  I am simply an excited fan who won a prize from them!

Proactiv Skin Purifying Mask

My skin was not in good shape last week. The combination of Amtrak/bus travel, lack of sleep, and new products tested on my face has caused me to break out so badly that I was questioned at the dinner table, despite wearing concealer. It was time of an intervention, even if meant a mask so I could eat my dinner in peace. Going through my Generation Beauty haul, I found a sample of Proactive Skin Purifying Mask.

I've pretty much struggled with acne for as long as I could remember. My childhood consisted of numerous trips to the dermatologist, tubes of various creams smeared on my face, and bottles of antibiotics down my throat. Recently, I've gone as far as having costly, painful, but effective acne extractions to keep the pesky red bumps at bay. Given the cost of acne facials and topical antibiotics (which I must pay in full thanks to my health plan), I've been looking into lower cost over-the-counter options. The Proactiv mask seemed promising because it uses sulfur, an ingredient I've had success with in the past.

Sulfur, also known as the 16th element, has been used since ancient times to treat various skin ailments due to its antibacterial properties. While sulfur usually has a pungent smell I could barely detect it, possibly because I'm desensitized from all the sulfur-based products I've used in the past. In fact, I found this product to have a refreshing, clean scent!

The nice thing about this product is that it can be used as both a mask and an overnight spot treatment. I ended up doing both, and while I didn't wake up with miraculously clear skin, the acne on my face did diminish in size and redness!

Overall, I'd recommend Proactiv's Skin Purifying Mask if you have oily, acne-prone skin. Currently, it's only available as a free gift if you buy a kit on Proactiv's website.  I hope they start selling this product individually as I'd like to add to my weekly skincare routine!

*Disclaimer* I am not affiliated with Proactiv in any way, shape, or form.  I just happened to receive a free mask and felt like sharing a review!

Much Needed Self-Care: Generation Beauty 2014

Wow, am I behind on posts!  I think for the sake of keeping at least one blog somewhat updated, I will just write here from here on out!  I may consolidate posts from other blogs in the future, but for now I will just link to them as needed.

It's been a rough couple of months, mentally, physically, and financially.  After an emotionally draining trip to the Philippines I promised myself that I would not cancel any of my planned trips for this year, even if it meant a big dent in my bank account.  One of those trips happened this past weekend, when I attended Ipsy's Generation Beauty in Los Angeles with one of my good buddies!

Generation Beauty is essentially a cosmetics convention with workshops, branded booths, and meet-ups with popular beauty bloggers and youtube personalities.  While I wear makeup and spend way too much money at Sephora and Ulta, I consider myself a novice when it comes to anything cosmetics related.  I figured this convention would be a learning experience.  Also - let's be brutally honest here - I wanted swag.  Who doesn't like free stuff, especially when it's makeup!

Here's a brief pictorial summary of my weekend:

Here's the event venue at L.A. Live!  While it looks empty here, there were actually several thousand people in attendance.

Not so cheap Los Angeles gas prices.  Makes my Bay Area gas look like a bargain!

Back to the convention!  Generation Beauty really promoted the use of social media.  This particular Proactiv vending machine dispensed a product if you tweeted certain hashtags.  Other companies had twitter contests, from which my friend won a Temptu airbrush machine worth over $200!

Cargo was one of my favorite booths.  The staff members were super nice and did a really thorough job in finding products that worked with my problem skin!  They also gave me tons of samples and a few full-sized products.  I'll be using this brand a lot now, since I used Cargo's Generation Beauty online 30% sale to buy most of their HD line!

Lush Cosmetics is one of my favorite places to get soap and hair care products.  Several days after posting this image on Instagram I received a message that I had won their #freshnewlush contest!  More reason to love Lush!  I'll share pictures once my prize arrives.

A cheesesteak sandwich because I was hungry after walking around all weekend.

Swag!

Generation Beauty was a great way to get away, hang out with my friend, and try out new beauty and skin care products.  With all the swag I got, there's really no excuse for me not to put more effort into my daily makeup routine (which currently involves slapping SPF and powder on my face and running out the door).  Except maybe sleeping an extra 10 minutes every morning.

More posts to come!  Let's see how I do in keeping this blog updated.