Favourite Makeup Websites!

Hey everyone!
This post's gonna be a slightly different one. Geared towards my Bajan viewers-or anyone who isn't satisfied with the availability of makeup in their country :P

Barbados isn't very good at importing the latest makeup products or having a wide variety of brands to chose from. Also, the options we do have are usually wayyy overpriced. So, I come to you with a solution!
The wonderful, worldwide web!

There are a few websites I like to order makeup from that do ship to Barbados and don't have tremendous shipping prices!

The first is nonpareilboutique.com

They carry brands like wet n wild, milani, elf (their stock is usually low on elf products), nyx, urban decay, the balm, nars etc.
This website is where I got my Naked palette from. When I bought it, they had it priced at $67 usd, but now I believe it's at $70, which is waaaayyyyy overpriced!
 I've ordered from them three times.
The shipping on this website is quite cheap, I chose the cheapest shipping option and it took around three weeks to get here. Not bad, not bad.

The second website is cherryculture.com

They sell brands like Milani, Nyx, Palladio, BeautyBlender, LaSplash, Jordana, Eyeko etc.
This website's prices are little bit more expensive than nonpareil's (roughly like 50c-$1.00 usd)
I've ordered from them once, shipping wasn't too bad either. Again, I just chose the cheapest shipping option with no tracking.
Note: I placed an order with cherry culture and nonpareil on the same day, and the nonpareil order arrived a week and a half earlier that the cherry culture one. (you can keep that in mind)

The third website is Beautyjoint.com

I have yet to place an order with this website (hopefully gonna buy some stuff next week), but I am most excited about this one! They seem to have the most variety of products - loads of brands like Elf, Wet n Wild, Nyx, Milani, China Glaze, Opi, Seche Vite and the list goes on and on and on.
I'll be sure to do an update to let you guys know how the odering process was, how expensive the shipping was and how long it took to arrive!

Also noteworthy is Sigma Makeup

There is a God. Sigma ships to Barbados!! However, it sure is EXPENSIVE.
I placed a big order for my birthday in March- I ordered 12 individual brushes, and the shipping costs were extremely high! However, if you want it, you gotta be willing to pay for it. Sigma make very high quality makeup brushes, so I thought of it as an investment. ^-^

Most of these websites from time to time will offer discounts like %20 off ...it's good to place an order then, to cut down on costs.
When ordering online, it is important to remember that shipping costs may vary due to the weight and size of the order.
Also keep in mind the fact that many countries, like Barbados may impose duties when you import something and it arrives at the post office. In Barbados, it can either be a hit or miss. All of the times I've ordered from nonpareil and cherry culture, I've only had to pay $1.50 bds in duties. However, when my Sigma order came in, I had to pay $60+ dollars in duties. That stung.

Hope this helps all my makeup lovers out there who want to try out products but can't get your hands on them!

Happy Shopping!

xx
Chloe

REVIEW: Dream Fresh BB Cream!

Hey everyone and anyone! I'm back with another Review... This one's going to be on the Maybelline 'Dream Fresh BB' Cream..

A little background on BB creams -
 - BB stands for blemish balm
 - They are meant to be an all-in-one face product (moisturiser, primer & foundation)
 - They are extremely popular and widely-used in Korea, but  generally only come in very light shades to produce 'porcelain' skin which is highly coveted in Korea.
-They are full of nutrients for the skin and some of them have skin-lightening properties.

 The Western market has grabbed onto this concept of BB cream and have tried to produce it with more shade varieties to suit most skin tones.
'American' drugstore Brands who have released a 'BB cream' are Garnier, L'oreal and Maybelline. Higher-end makeup brands like Smashbox, Clinique and Estee Lauder have also tried to tap into this market.
Widely speaking, Asian BB creams have much heavier/better coverage and have more benefits than the ones on the American market.

Now onto the Review!

Maybelline has come out with their version of a BB Cream called 'Dream Fresh BB' 8 in 1 Beauty Balm Skin Perfector and it comes in 5 shades - Light, Light/Medium, Medium, Medium/Deep, Deep.
Maybelline describes this product as:

 The 1-step wonder for a good skin day, everyday.

Packed with 8 great skin benefits for instant skin perfection

Ideal for Normal Skin. (Taken from Maybelline.com)

 For my Bajans, this product can be found at Collins Broad Street for around $15.00 (not a bad price!).

Packaging:

 The tube/bottle is 30ml/1oz. It's a pretty small product in my opinion. However, the packaging is adorable! I love the graphics on the tube, looks very cutesy and I think it goes well with the Maybelline 'Baby Lips' packaging too!

 As you can see below, they've said this product has 8 benefits:

Product :

Okay, so I got this product in shade Medium, I probably would have preferred Light/Medium, but you gotta take what you can get when you're in Barbados!!
 This product, in my opinion is nothing but a glorified tinted moisturiser. If you class it under the tinted moisturiser category, then it is a great product. However, if you class it as a BB cream, which is what it is supposed to be, then I don't think it lives up to what a BB cream actually is.
It is great for everyday - has light coverage and spf 30 - you could bump it up to medium coverage if you pack it on, but I don't think that's such a great idea, because if you have combination/oily skin your face will be extremely shiny.
I have combination skin, and when I wear this, I set it with a powder and I'm good for the day. If you are someone who likes full coverage, then this isn't the product for you.

Applied to the skin:

  This is what it looks like when it is first squeezed out of the tube onto the skin:

Blended into the skin:

 I like to apply this product with either the Sigma large Stipple Fuo-Fibre F50 or the Sigmax Flat-Top Kabuki F80 brush. As you can see above, it blends quite seamlessly into the skin, however- I think a BB Cream is meant to give more coverage than what this product gives.
 
Also, the product buildup on the cap isn't very becomming :

Grade: Packaging - 3.75/5 Product: as a Tinted Moisturiser- 4/5 , as a BB Cream- 2.5/5.

Overall if you don't have high expectations, this product will please you. If you bought this thinking it was going to be an Asian style BB Cream, you will be disappointed.

Hope you found this helpful!

xxx
Chloe