BrandBacker Archives - From My Vanity

Boost your Skincare and Makeup Routine with Evian® Facial Spray!

January 2, 2015 Katie Marie 18 Comments

I love setting sprays. The fact that they’ll help all my hard work last hours longer makes it totally worth incorporating into my daily routines. Who’s with me on this? *Looks for a show of hands* After I’ve spent an hour *cough…or more….* at my vanity, the last thing I want to see halfway through the day is all my work literally melting off my face!

I was recently sent this facial spray by Evian to try out. Have you ever heard of them before? I hadn’t. But, since I received it, I did a little research…and realized that Sephora, Ulta, and Nordstrom all sell this facial spray. See, I even looked for it on my last Ulta trip and, sure enough, there it was!

I like that this facial spray is easily accessible, either online or in stores. If you are totally new to this brand *as I was*, let’s learn a little bit about them.

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Old Factory Making Candles the Old-Fashioned Way! (Giveaway)

November 10, 2014 Katie Marie 6 Comments

Old Factory Themed Candle Gift Sets

Retail Price: $30.99

50 SHADES themed gift set contains 3 different 2 ounce candles. Includes Leather, Jasmine Bubbles, Vanilla Sex.
Made in the USA with natural soy wax and self-trimming cotton candle wicks.
Each gift pack comes with 3
fragrance-themed candles. Each of which burns clean for over 20 hours.
The subtle jar design makes it the perfect complement for any decor, and
any room of the house – kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, family room, great
room, basement.
Buy one for yourself, and another for a loved one – just because.
Every purchase is 100% Guaranteed. If
you are not completely thrilled with the fragrance or appearance of
these candles. We insist you send them back (at our expense) and we’ll
give you a full refund. No hassles. No headaches. That’s our promise to
you.

My Review:

First Impression & Packaging:
I love to burn candles around the house, so was thrilled to receive this set of three candles from Old Factory — a company that’s exclusively available on Amazon. I was sent them as a gift, which is the first time I’ve ever had any experience with Amazon sending a product wrapped. This is how it looked when I opened the package.

I appreciated that they included the invoice, but put it in an envelop so that you have the option to be totally surprised when you open the gift. The invoice also did not include the price of the item.

This 3-Candle Gift set comes in a variety of different sets and, since we’ve just stepped into November, I thought it was appropriate to get the Fall Harvest gift set. Each of the candles are 2 oz. and come with a black screw-on lid. They were slightly smaller than I had expected, but I didn’t see this as a negative aspect.

Product & Application:
I really appreciate and loved the care that Old Factory takes with the packaging and design–from the candles themselves, to the inserts you get, to even the box it comes in. How sweet that they even included little messages underneath the candles (see picture above). They’re a very thoughtful company.

The aroma from the candles can be smelled even before you light them — so yummy! As you can see, the three different scents were in Cranberry, Autumn Leaves, and Pumpkin Spice. The Cranberry definitely puts me in mind of Christmas, so I will be saving that till next month. Autumn Leaves smells outdoorsy….like crushed leaves. Not specifically fall….but more like what the outdoors smell like during the spring, so I would say this would work no matter the season.

Pumpkin Spice, of course, smells like pumpkin…and maybe a touch of gingerbread. Personally, it’s the most accurate “fall” scent in this set. But! When you light them all at the same time, then all the scents do combine to give you a very accurate “fall” smell. It’s my favorite season, so I love it! 🙂

Major Likes & Dislikes:
I think this set would make a wonderful gift for someone who loves candles this Christmas (like me!). Or you could even purchase this set, and then divide them up between three friends as stocking stuffers. I like that the candles are natural and handmade in the USA. And, of course, the scents are really pleasant when you burn them. Not too strong (I don’t like those kinds).

The price seems kind of pricey for 3 2oz candles. But right now I appreciate that they’re on sale, so more affordable. And when you divide $25 three ways, it’s not that bad. And $25 makes for easy gifts.

Final Thoughts:
Almost forgot to mention, but Old Factory has a 100% satisfaction guarantee return policy — if you don’t like the product, they will pay for the shipping to have it returned. I really appreciate this. Too often you see the return guarantee…but you have to pay for shipping it back. That’s not the case with Old Factory candles!

Each candle burns for about 20 hours, so if you do the math….right now you can spend $25 and have wonderful scents filling your house for at least 60 hours! The perfect amount of time for this season — you don’t have to worry about still having half the candle to burn through when Christmas is over and spring is rapidly approaching (like with large B&BW candles!).

If you like burning candles in your home, then you have to try these Old Factory candles at some point! You won’t be disappointed and I think you are going to love the ability to switch scents in a timely manner.

Old Factory Candle GIVEAWAY!
It’s been a little while since I’ve had a giveaway to offer to y’all, so I’m really excited to share this news with you today. 🙂 One of my awesome readers will win 1 FREE Old Factory Candle Gift Set. Thank you, Old Factory!

Contest winners must have an Amazon.com account, a
PayPal account (for shipping reimbursements), and live in America in
order to claim their prize. For more detailed rules, see Terms & Conditions in the Rafflecopter form below.

Giveaway ends December 1st, at midnight.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Question for My Readers: If you won the giveaway, which of the sets would you pick (see list of sets in the picture above).

~ PIN IT ~

I received one or more of the products mentioned above from Old Factory, sponsored through BrandBackers. I only share information that I think will be useful for my readers and I only recommend products I have personally used.

One Direction’s Up All Night is a hit for the Bold Fans! (First Impression Review)

August 14, 2014 Katie Marie Leave a Comment

The Looks Collection comprises three keepsake tins inspired by One
Direction’s globe-conquering albums, Up All Night, Take Me
Home and the latest chart topper, Midnight Memories.

Each tin
comes complete with everything you need to show off your personality.
Are you a rock n roll girl, a fun party girl or the girl next door?
We have just the right collection for you and illustrations to help show
you just how to get your perfect look.

All your beauty essentials are
housed in a LIMITED EDITION collectable keepsake tin with removable
sleeve, complete with ONE DIRECTION doodle stencils to decorate your
keepsake tin and make it uniquely your own!

* * I apologize, in advance, for the length of this post. But there are a lot of products in One Direction’s Limited Edition makeup collection and I wanted to remain true to my blog and be thorough with my initial thoughts on these products. * *

My First Impression Review:

4+1 Eye Shadow Palette:
Being an eyeshadow junkie myself, the One Direction Eyeshadow Palette was the first thing I took out and played around with. If you are a fan of One Direction, than the neatest thing about this palette is that each of the colors are named after one of their songs. So the pink shade is More Than This, the mint color is Save You Tonight, and the pretty taupe crease color is Gotta Be You. And the last two darker, sparkly colors in the palette are Another World and Up All Night.

None of the colors are matte. The pink and taupe aren’t exactly sparkly, but they do come off with a satin finish. Which isn’t bad, but personally I love my matte colors. The shade in the middle (darkest blue, Up All Night, is actually (surprisingly) a cream eyeshadow, and the chunky sparkly is only on the top layer. Once I swatched it a couple times, the chunky glitter was pretty much gone and all that was left was a shimmery creamy eyeshadow. Which I thought was better, as I didn’t like the chunky glitter at all. It was very patchy.

I always swatch the shadows on my arm to test them out before using them on my eyes. As you can see in the pictures below, the eyeshadows are actually pretty pigmented and came off fairly well on my arm.

The two blues, obviously, are the worst out of the lot — but the other three are really pretty! I love the taupe color and like using the mint as a pop of color. The colors don’t blend well, which is unfortunate, but they look well when placed with a shader brush or your finger. And if I use the pink very lightly, it works well to highlight my browbone and inner corner.

“Little Black Dress” Mascara:
For my personal needs, I am content with the length of my lashes, and typically just look for a mascara that will thicken and lengthen them even more. With One Direction’s Little Black Dress Volumizing Mascara, I felt it did a fantastic job at giving me longer, natural looking lashes.

So for me, personally, I didn’t see much volume happening. Maybe a little bit, but not at the extent that I like. 🙂 Thought it gave very nice length and it does have a dark, black formula. The consistency of the mascara is a very dry formula. I think I prefer more wet, but I didn’t mind this one being so dry.

All in all, while I don’t think it gave me the volume I like, it was lengthening and I like using the Little Black Dress Mascara on an every day basis for a natural look.

“Na Na Na” Nail Polish:
If you like glittery nail polish, than Na Na Na is going to be right up your alley! It’s a really pretty iridescence bluish/green.

The polish is rather thin, so it takes several coats in order to build up the color and coverage on your hails. But I rather like it. It dries quickly and lasts for several days without chipping. All in all a very nice nail polish to add to my collection.

“Taken” Lipgloss:
If you like bright colors, than pull up a chair — because One Direction’s lip products are exactly that!

Taken is a vibrant, neon pink that has plenty of sparkles. As you can see from my swatch below, it is rather pigmented for a sparkly lipgloss (in my experience, often all you can see is the sparkle, and no color).

It goes on a little bit shearer than what you can see in the swatch above. But it still has plenty of color in it on the lips. While I have never been the type to wear bright, bold colors…but I might wear this one on certain days. 🙂

“I Should Have Kissed You” Lipstick:
Now this lipstick is bright! When I first tried it, I kind of startled myself in the mirror.

I don’t think this color compliment my skin tone, personally, but that doesn’t mean you might not love it. 🙂 It is a very matte lipstick, and because of this it can be pretty drying. But I made sure to moisturize my lips very well before applying the lipstick.

The color is very pigmented and goes on great. Because it’s matte, it stays put really well. Even after I have eaten. While some of it does come off, of course, the color is still there and noticeable.

“Stand Up” Eye & Body Crayon:
Out of all the products in this collection, I think Stand Up was the one that I was the least impressed with. I suppose it would work well as a body crayon, to use with the Doodle Stencils that come in this collection. But I wasn’t really pleased when I used it on my eyes.

The color is not very vibrant and it doesn’t really set. I applied the swatch (below) to my arm, and after 30 minutes or so tried to see if it would hold up to being rubbed on lightly. And it all came right off. There was a hint of color on my arm — as if it stained the skin — but that was about it.

For me, personally, I constantly have a problem with colors creasing on my oily lids, so I didn’t even want to try out as I knew it wouldn’t last. But I did use it in my waterline the other day, and it held up rather well.

Doodle Stencils:
The final product that was included (as a bonus, I just discovered) in the Up All Night Limited Edition Makeup Collection. Personally, I haven’t used it — but for fans of One Direction I have no doubt they will be excited to try out these stencils on their personal items.

Apparently, from what I read about these stencils, you can use them with the body crayon on your own body or grab a marker and decorate your bags, purses, or paper.

Final Thoughts:

All in all, the makeup in Up All Night are really nice quality. The collection has it’s pros and cons, but for the better part of the collection they are pros. And if you would wear these colors, than this is a collection totally worth getting! Especially if you are a One Direction fans — that’s a no brainer, of course. 🙂

Question for My Readers: Are you a One Direction’s fan? What’s your favorite song by them?

I
received one or more of the products mentioned above from Markwins, through BrandBacker. Regardless, I only share information that I think will be useful for my readers and I only recommend
products I have personally used.

I only share information that I think will be useful for my
readers and I only recommend
products I have personally used. – See more at: https://frommyvanity.com/#sthash.V98n09u8.dpuf

Effective Professional Hair Treatments at an Affordable Price! (First Impression Review)

May 23, 2014 Katie Marie 4 Comments

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About the Arvazallia Professional Series…

At Arvazallia we create high quality premium beauty products that are
designed to not only Maximize your Beauty but also to Maximize your
Confidence and Maximize your Spirit as well.

Our unique formulations have been used by salon professionals and
customers around the world and is now available to you as part of the
Arvazallia Professional series suite of products.

We have a 100% commitment to ensuring our customers love our products
and we back that up with a 100% Money Back Guarantee. If you don’t
absolutely love an Arvazallia product that you’ve purchased from us we
will give you a 100% refund.

My First Impression Review…

Packaging…
Both the Hydrating Argan Oil Mask and the Premium Argan Oil Hair Treatment are packaged in very elegant and professional-looking bottles. The hair treatment is in a tall glass bottle with a silver pump that dispenses about a nickle-sized amount. The mask is in a plastic bowl-like container that has a secure lid you twist to secure. The Arvazallia brand knows how to present their products well — it meets my approval in both practicality and presentation!

Product and Ease of Use…
Hydrating Argan Oil Mask – Because of the way it’s packaged, it makes it very easy to scoop out the product to run through your hair. The fragrance that this mask has is fairly nice. Not overwhelmingly floral or anything, but not a bad scent either. I think it’s nice, and considering that you wash it out afterwards, it doesn’t matter too much either way. I’ve started using this about twice a week, really focusing on my (horrible) split-ends, and leave it in for about 10 minutes before I rinse it out. My hair feels amazing after letting the mask sit in my hair — even while I am just rinsing it out, I can already feel how moisturized and hydrated my hair is!

Premium Argan Oil Hair Treatment – As I already mentioned above, the hair treatment is dispensed with a little pump that squirts about a nickle-sized amount of oil. I have to use several pumps for my long hair, but I love the way Argan Oil makes my hair feel! It really cuts back on the frizz and helps to tame my split ends. The fragrance of the oil is really nice. Leaves my hair smelling good – my husband’s even commented on it. 🙂 I like using the oil at least once a day, even when I don’t wash my hair. It really helps to keep my ends nourished, which I love!

Any Major Likes & Dislikes…

There really isn’t any cons that I have found in this product. I haven’t been using it long (which is why this is a “first impression review”), but so far I have no complaints at all. The products retail for $45 and $40 – kind of pricey – but right now they are on sale on Amazon for only $17.99 and $15.99. Which isn’t a bad price for these products at all! The treatment will last me for several months and, depending on how much hair you have, the mask can last you a long time as well. Oh, and I love that the oil treatment has a fragrance — I love using products that leave my hair smelling nice. 🙂

Final Thoughts…
I LOVE the way the Hydrating Argan Oil Mask and Premium Argan Oil Hair Treatment leaves my hair. I haven’t been able to tell, yet, how it helps my split ends, but these
products have definitely revived and moisturized my dry hair a LOT since I
started using them! I’m excited to see how they continue to improve my hair in the weeks ahead.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free from Arvazallia, sponsored through BrandBacker. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Attention: Both of these products are currently on sale on Amazon for less than half the price. I have no idea how long this sale will last, but you are definitely getting a good deal! The mask is over 8 oz and the treatment is over 3 oz. And don’t forget that Arvazallia has a 100% satisfaction guaranteed!

Question for My Readers: What do you use to maintain your hair? Just shampoo & conditioner? A mask once a week? Argan oil? I would love to know!

Studio Gear has come out with a Smokey Eye Palette for the Holidays! (Beauty Review)

November 29, 2013 Katie Marie 11 Comments

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Today I’m really excited to bring you this product review for Studio Gear’s Holiday Smokey Eye Palette. let’s dive right in!

PLEASE NOTE: This product is currently available for the special introductory price of $25 at the Studio Gear website only! And to make that even sweeter, Studio Gear gave me a coupon code to share with my readers for 10% off of your purchase. Use code: SGHOLIDAY at checkout

(*hint hint* This palette would make a great gift this Christmas season! 😉

The Brand…

Founded by industry veterans Steve Rohr and John Avolio, Studio Gear Cosmetics is a prestigous cosmetics brand featuring a full collection of professional makeup brushes, revolutionalizing complexion formulas, and a wide selection of color products for the eyes, cheeks, and lips. Since 1996, Studio Gear has been on set at hundreds of professional photo shoots, in the beauty departments of Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Dillard’s, HSN and ULTA, and also in the everyday woman’s makeup bag. This is a line created true to the concept that every woman deserves professional, high quality cosmetics at a reasonable price.

Connect with Studio Gear:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StudioGearCosmetics

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SGearCosmetics

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/studiogear

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/studiogearcosmetics

The Product…

Be radiant on any occasion with this sultry, shimmery palette of dramatic shades – perfect for creating a classic smoky eye look, with a hint of unexpected golden glimmer. This collection of four complimentary eye shadows with matching blush deliver several day to night options that are both seductive and wearable. With pure color, pigment-rich formulations, you’ll be sure to smolder all night!

Includes white, silver, gold, and coal eye shadows and a perfect pink blush.

This palette is available on our website and at select ULTA BEAUTY locations (starting in December).

My Review…

This is what the cover of the palette
looks like after you slide it out of the
protective casing

First Impression…
The packaging is really nice – very compact and visually appealing. (Another reason this palette would make a great gift for someone. 😉 The palette has a strong magnetic close to it, so once you let it fall closed you don’t have to worry about it accidentally opening. The step-by-step instructions that they include inside is really handy, especially if you are a beginner with eyeshadow or you are gifting this palette to someone who is a beginner.

The selection of colors for this palette was very “holiday appropriate” with the gold, silver and sparkles. I could totally see someone using this palette to make a beautiful, sparkling smokey eye for a Christmas Eve event. The blush was totally matte, but it did have some very tiny, subtle shimmer in it. As I said above, very appropriate for this holiday season.

Without Eyeshadow Primer

The Application…
Okay, so I first swatched these colors on my arm without eye primer and wasn’t too impressed, honestly. The colors did show up, but not very pigmented at all. And the glitter shadows (Frost and Glimmer) showed up more as just glitter than eye shadow. However, with that said, I did go back and swatch these on top of a primer (picture below) and was very pleased with how well the colors showed up that time. The glitter shadows had a lot more color in them. They show up really well when applied with a brush on the eyes, but I prefer using my fingers to apply it as I feel I get a more pigmented, richer application.

The colors lasted very well on my eyelids. Let me say, though, that I tend to have very oily eyelids and any eyeshadow that I put on without a primer will crease, no matter what. But with a primer, these shadows lasted as long as I’d expect them to and about how long my other eyeshadows last (that are from LORAC, Wet n Wild, Physicians Formula).

Please Note: These eyeshadows were swatched on my arm. I have a light/medium olive skintone, so these eyeshadows would definitely show up (especially the gold) if you have a lighter skinetone than I do. 🙂

With Eyeshadow Primer

Major Likes…
Out of all the eye colors in this palette, I found that I really liked Platinum the best. It was a beautiful silver that matched a lot of my outfits. And when I used that along with the Coal shade, I was able to get a great smokey eye. I personally prefer the darker eye looks, so this palette is right up my alley.

As for the blush, I’ll be honest and say that I initially thought I wouldn’t like it — it had a glittery/shimmer finish and since I have pretty oily skin, I usually stay away from shimmer as it makes my oiliness look worse. I use a very light hand when I apply this, but I was really surprised and pleased with the results. It gave my cheeks a very nice, natural glow to them. And since this palette is meant for the holidays and to use with a smokey eye, I can imagine having a blush with some shimmer would be really good for an evening event — to help keep the glow in your face, even in dim lighting.

Swatch of the blush. Very pretty!
No primer of any kind.

Major Dislikes…
I stated this before, but I’ll mention it again — I’m not a fan of glitter. I enjoy some shimmer in my eyeshadows on occasion, but don’t like the chunky-looking glitter that I see in some shadows. So, as you may guess, I wasn’t as big a fan of the Frost and Glimmer shadows as someone who liked glitter might be. I noticed that out of all the shadows, the glittery shades would start to loose the pigmentation first, leaving the lids with just a glittery mess. This is not something I enjoy – at all – and so I find that I tend to leave these two colors alone, for the most part.

That’s really all that I have to say for dislikes. The colors weren’t super vivid/pigmented, but with a primer I was very pleased with the color payoff.

Final Thoughts…
All in all, the Holiday Smokey Eye Palette is a very nice palette to give to someone this season. And with the special introductory price of $25, I’d say this palette is very well worth it! Especially if you (or whoever you might gift this to) is more into glitter than I am. With that said, the regular retail price ($40) seems kind of high for a palette with 4 shadows and a blush — especially when the pigmentation isn’t totally out-of-this-world. So, make sure that if you want to buy this palette, buy it NOW while it is on sale! I have no idea how long the introductory sale will last…but don’t miss it!

And don’t forget — use the coupon code SGHOLIDAY when you checkout to get 10% off your online order!

Also Note: I just saw that this palette is given as a free deluxe gift with all orders made over $50 on Studio Gear for the month of November. So now is REALLY the time! 😀

READERS: What do you think? Is this something you’d give as a gift? Or get for yourself to use this holiday season?

I received these product from StudioGear for free in order to review. It was not required that I give a positive review, but solely to express my own thoughts and opinions of this product, which I have done. I only recommend products and/or services that I have personally used or experienced and that I believe will be good for my readers. This post is sponsored by BrandBacker.

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