Mini Haul: L.A. Girl Pro Conceal and NYX Conceal

Hey guys! I'm sorry i've been so MIA but school is really really killer right now! I'm just here to do a quick post about a Wonderful World mini-haul. These are actually my first makeup purchases since my MAC Fantasy of Flowers mini-haul back in January. 

Everything seems to be mini these days as i'm trying not to let my love of makeup get the better of me this year. 

Anyway here it goes:

That's my haul...remember I did say it was a mini-haul..mini as in minuscule! 

I was killing some time browsing around Wonderful World with no intentions of purchasing anything at all when I remembered that I had seen a local MAC makeup artist post a few weeks ago that they had restocked the 'L.A. Girl Pro-Conceal High Definition Concealer'. I searched and searched and simply wasn't finding any so I thought I was too late and it was again sold out. 

It was during my search that I stumbled upon the 'NYX Full Coverage Concealer' in the traditional corrector shades at $40.00 each. I grabbed the Orange shade to try as i've been eyeing the MAC Colour Corrector in orange for the longest while. It's recommended that an orange corrector can be used, for lack of a better term, to CORRECT those greyish areas that women of colour seem to get when they use concealer or foundation over discolourations. Traditionally for me these areas include the muzzle area (around the mouth) and under my eyes. 

After wandering the store with only tthat in my basket I proceeded to check out the jewellery. The LA Girl Concealer just would not leave my mind though and I again went over to peruse the LA Girl display. it was then that I found the concealers tucked into the display close to the ground. You really had to look to the back to see them as the ones to the front had been sold. Unfortunately the shade range was really limited and the deeper colours were obviously sold out.

Each concealer was $15 so I decided to pick up two. I left the shades that were clearly too light for me such as Nude and chose two in the shades 'Medium Bisque' and 'Warm Sand'

Medium Bisque to the top and warm sand to the bottom!

I honestly would never have given these concealers a second glance before I stumbled upon some glowing reviews on the internet late last year. Ever since then i've been interested in trying them out and I finally had my chance today.

The concealer comes in a tube packaging with a squeeze top head with a brush attached. It's not bad packaging per say but I do find that the brush head tends to be wasteful in that you don't have control over just how much comes out. Additionally, I find that this sort of brush tends to be unsanitary but that's just me.

 Below i've included the swatch of the concealer in Medium Bisque.

Medium Bisque: Top photos without flash, bottom with!

Whilst blended out the colour seems decent, this shade has too much of a pink undertone so that it's not the best for my NC42 complexion.

Below are the swatches of Warm Sand which again has too much of a pink undertone to work for me.

Warm Sand, top no flash, bottom with flash!

So far i've run water over the concealer, washed with soap and rubbed vigorously in order to test them. Once they set they stay put and i've found that they stand up to liquid soap pretty well. They definitely seem worth the price so hopefully i'll be able to find my shade soon.

Up next is the NYX Concealer in the shade orange. This shade is generally considered a corrector shade as I mentioned before.

I hate that it's in a jar but when I remembered that I have my handy new spatula which I can use to remove some product and then wipe clean all was well again.

A little bit of this product goes a long way and its definitely an orange colour when applied.

No flash and flash from left to right!

I'll have to do a detailed review of how this works later but so far the staying power is pretty good.

I've also included some snaps of my mixing palette and spatula which I got off Amazon at a really good price. They both feel hefty, and the quality exceeds my expectations. They both came in a pouch which has a separation for the palette and the dual ended spatula. This is a purchase i'd recommend to anyone. I'll include the link soon. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Take care!

The Local Beauty Scene

The makeup choices in Trinidad* are extremely limited compared to what is available in other countries, namely, the US. However, we can definitely find options at different ends of the budget spectrum to fit our needs.

Below I've listed some of the bigger players  in the cosmetics game locally. Of course there are plenty other smaller shops or boutiques where you can purchase cosmetics. Hopefully, I'll be able to share some of those places with you soon.

• Our high end cosmetics are limited to:

MAC Cosmetics

 (Image taken from Gulf City Mall's website)

MAC Cosmetics, one of the most popular global cosmetics brands has two local locations, one at the Falls of Westmall,  known as Westmall, and the other at Gulf City Mall.

However, I've actually found that when purchasing products from the local MAC stores the conversion rate is usually a range of 1 US: 8.7-9.8 TT rather that the normal conversion rate of 1 US: 6.5 TT (approx.).  

There is always the option to purchase online at MAC , Nordstrom (offers free shipping and 3 free samples), Macy's (offers free shipping with a purchase of $50US or more) and various online retailers once you are utilising a Skybox/Freight forwarding service. In my experience this may only save you about $10-15 TT in comparison to the price at the local MAC stores but it's very useful if you want to get your hands on the limited edition collections that often sell out quickly here (although it goes just as quickly online).

Of course visiting the store locally means you get to play with the products, get samples and of course once you spend over $300 you are supposed to get your makeup done if you so desire.

Estee Lauder & Clinique at Senses

(Images taken from Senses' website)

These brands can be found locally at Senses. The stores may look particularly intimidating as they exude a sense of luxury in comparison to other local stores but i've found the staff, especially at the Westmall branch, to be extremely helpful and friendly. 

• Drugstore brand cosmetics are available in  multitude of locations across the country including 

Pennywise

(Image taken from Pennywise's website)

This might be considered the original cosmetics mecca in Trinidad and at some point in time I think every Trini MUST have popped into Pennywise and bought something. There are branches of Pennywise in most malls and cities/towns/ areas.  Revlon, L'Oreal, Maybelline, Cara Mia, any brand, you name it and Pennywise probably carries it.  Definitely stop in and browse their display of cosmetics. Oh and Pennywise has some bess bess ( Trini for best ) prices. Actually, they may have the cheapest prices definitely have the cheapest out of the listed stores.

Superpharm

       (Image taken from Superpharm's Facebook page)

There are Superpharm locations in most areas and this pharmacy has clearly been modelled after Walgreens etc., basically the large all purpose US pharmacies. Whilst it is pricier than Pennywise, Superpharm is a great place to find drugstore brands and it's usually up to date with newer product releases.

Starlite Pharmacy

   (Image taken from Starlite Pharmacy's Facebook page)

Again, modelled after the big US drugstores, you can find a vast range of cosmetics here. They carry a larger variety of brands than those found at Superpharm and Pennywise but the prices may be a bit higher.

Wonderful World

   (Image taken from Gulf City Mall's website)

(Image taken from Wonderful World's Facebook page)

Wonderful World can be considered every girl's dream, especially mine! I've been pouring money into their coffers since the store first opened it's doors in Trincity Mall. Every imaginable item of jewellery, pashminas, hats, purses, lingerie, shoes (at the Gulf City branch), nail polish  and of course makeup can be found at these locations. They carry numerous brands such as L.A Girl, Milani, Jordana, NYX, Ruby Kisses,  L.A Splash, City Colour, and Cosmo Girl to name a few. Yes a few!, because this store has sooo many different brands. They are also decently priced although their prices have raised in recent times.

NYX Kiosk

There is an NYX Kisok located in Long Circular Mall and Trincity Mall. They seem to have a wide range of the products but from what I remember the prices are a lot higher than NYX prices online. I couldn't really bring myself to purchase NYX products at those prices.
** Edit: A lovely reader pointed out that the prices at the kiosk are now less than the prices both online and at Wonderful World!  

• I'm proud to say that we also have our own brands of cosmetics manufactured here in Trinidad** including:

Sacha Cosmetics

 (Image taken from Gulf City Mall's website)

This brand is a gem with some truly excellent products. They have also been at times the official cosmetics partner for the Miss Universe Organisation. Sacha was especially formulated with the skin tones of the Caribbean people in mind and so their products are often richly pigmented and their foundations are yellow based and ideal of women of colour.

Sacha now has Image Centres across the country which act as stores as well as places where you can get you makeup done etc. Their makeup is very affordable locally but unfortunately their US/International prices are a bit higher. This brand can also be found at most cosmetic stores. 

Cara Mia Cosmetics

I must admit that I myself don't know too much about this brand. I've only dabbled with it back in my early teens, think 12-13, when an aunt gave me a lipgloss, which was insanely pigmented by the way, and a powder. Ive heard good things and as I type I'm resolving to try a few more of their products. Again, this brand can be found at Pennywise.

Trinidad also has seen in the past few years an abundance of Facebook shops or pages that sell wide varieties of makeup. I'll try to do a post on these pages soon. And again, we have lots of freight forwarding service available so feel free to set up a SkyBox, of course call around for the best shipping prices etc.,  and buy your makeup online. This will eliminate the second hand retail markup. Beware that customs can be a b*tch with the duty they charge on these items. 

This extremely long post comes almost 2 years after my first post, if you recall I did say that I was hesitant about this blog business! Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!! xx

*Sidenote 1:Whilst Trinidad is a twin island state consisting of both Trinidad and Tobago, i'm only able to comment on the island of Trinidad at this time so i'm sorry Tobago readers! *

**Sidenote 2: I encourage you to check out some of our local products, my patriotic side encourages you to buy local!!*