CherryReview: Blushes (MAC and Tarte)

I'll admit it has only been in the past 2 years that I started using blush, mainly because a bad reaction to a powder blush in my kid days (was for a dance recital) left me believing that I should never wear it.  Plus I used to always have a natural flush no matter when.

However recently I've been more pale face than usual.  Since I wasn't ready to venture into powder blush at the time, I decided to go with a gel blush...and later on I ended up with powders that didn't react with me face.  Hurray!

(The blushes I will be reviewing from left to right: MAC's powderblush in Mocha and Melba, and Tarte's 12 hr Amazonian Clay Blush in Dollface.  Not pictured is Tarte's gel blush in Tipsy)

Swatches of the powder blushes - from top to bottom: Melba, Mocha and Dollface

CherryReview: BareMinerals 4.0 eyeshadow palette

I got the BareMinerals 2.0 eyeshadow duo in The Perfect Storm from Sephora because I'm a VIB.  I liked the lasting power and the creaminess of the pressed powder eyeshadow that I decided to buy The Dream Sequence palette as opposed to buying Fig 1 from MAC (and other complimentary purple shades).

I purchased the palette during my recent visit to the States (refer to my travel entry here and the haul here) since I knew I'd have lower taxes and a lower price point in the US compared to Canada.  I think the quad is around $4-6 more expensive in Canada, and that's excluding the taxes.

CherryHaul: Shopping in the USA

So as you all know by now, I was in Jersey City for two weeks in business.  Being the only person from my team there meant that I had a lot of time to shop after work on my own :)

Cross border shopping is always fun because the prices are cheaper in the States compared to Canada not just because of sales taxes (which can get higher than 10% depending which province) but mainly because items are marked up when they come to Canada.  My beloved argan oil at Sephora is a good example: $30 in the US vs $36 in Canada...that's practically a 20% markup!!

Anyways, without further procrastination, here are the details of my lovely haul...I didn't get to take a picture of everything together because of packing and the fact that I shoved all my clothes in the wash right when I got home!

CherryTravels: Jersey City

   

My trip to Jersey City via Instagram - Starbucks on the way (Matcha green tea latte) - Kogemashi Too's Chirashi Royale - Complementary Miso soup & Edamame from Kogemashi Too plus a glass of plum wine - Getting my nails done at Polish Me Spa in Newport - a highlight of my dinners from Michael Anthony, Komegashi Too and Fire & Oak

Hello everyone!

I realized that it's been a LONG time since I last blogged - I am seriously sorry about the lack of updates, but when a new job comes and I just haven't had time to really take photos and properly review products, I just don't bother writing some random filler material.  Some people might think this is a bit of filler (it's all to do with my business trip...) but seeing that I had done a similar post for my business trips to Toronto and Halifax, I figured this would be appropriate nonetheless.

I ended up going to Jersey City in the state of New Jersey by myself rather than with my team because I got hired about a month after my team.  The North American head office is switching over to Canada instead so the knowledge transfer is taking place now.  Anyways that bit of background aside, I went there for two weeks though I had to come back the weekend because I had some prior appointments on the weekend I couldn't get out of (bummer)