REVIEW: Physician's Formula Powder Palette Mineral Glow Pearls

Product Brand and Name, Price (CDN), Where Purchased

Physicians Formula Powder Palette Mineral Glow Pearls in Translucent Pearl, $19.99 CDN @ PharmaPlus

Reason for Purchase

It reminds me of the Guerlain Luminous Pearls - but it’s not as pricey!

Notable Features

Physician’s formula claims that this product will create an instantly glowing complexion and a perfectly even skin tone. Real Mineral Pearl Extract delivers a luxurious skin-perfecting effect.

This product is hypoallergenic, paraben free, and perfume free.

Packaging

Standard round Physician’s formula compact, with a second compartment that contains a brush under the pan of product. The lid is clear with a pearl nubbin (it actually looks like a nipple - seriously) in the middle.

Experience Using Product

I was expecting the shimmer from this product to be more finely milled, and it’s not. To me, it actually looks a bit on the chunky side.

The shimmer in this product is quite powerful; I don’t know that it would produce a ‘glow’ unless applied with an extremely light hand. I use it to highlight - it’s never been applied all over my face.

If I’m just having a ‘blah’ day, I’ll pop it on my eyes as a shadow.

One thing that I have noticed with Physician’s Formula products that have been released lately is that they are very powdery - it takes no effort at all to load your brush. But, the downside to that is that when you do load your brush, you’re left with a lot of product ‘dust’ that goes to waste. I do not like that. The formulations of PF’s earlier powders was better - they seem to have been more densely formulated and you didn’t get as much ‘dust’.

The brush you get in this compact is decent - but I still prefer to use my own brushes. This brush is small and wide so you can get good coverage, but the bristles are not that great.

Would I Re-Purchase, Recommend, or Reject

I am usually a big fan of Physician’s Formula products. But, I would not purchase this particular product again; I will use up what I have and then it’s going to get binned.

I don’t recommend this powder to you - there are better quality, cheaper products of this type out there.

To learn more about this product, visit the Physician’s Formula website.

Monthly Faves: April

May first already! Wow! I swear that just a week ago, we still had snow on the ground where I live (no joke! we did!). It's time for my monthly favorites. Again, this month's offering of products is small.

Lets get started!



Rimmel London Sexy Curves Mascara - I really like this mascara. It does a great job of defining my lashes and doesn't flake off as the day progresses. Could this be my new favorite mascara? We'll have to wait and see! Purchased at Wal-Mart

Maybelline New York Fit Me! Foundation in Shade 135 Creamy Natural - I really thought that I would take the lightest shade in this foundation, shade 110 Ivory. I bought a bottle of it (and the matching pressed powder) and wore it a few times without noticing anything peculiar. Recently, I applied it again and discovered I was really making my skin much paler than it naturally is. So, I ventured out to my local drugstore and bought the correct shade for my skin - which turned out to be the one I am featuring here. This foundation has a built in SPF and doesn't oxidize on me. While my skin doesn't stay matte through the whole day like it does with my Clinique Even Better Makeup, I am not a complete oil slick either. I like that this foundation does not irritate my skin and that it blends very well - putting it on takes no work at all. Purchased at PharmaPlus

Maybelline New York Fit Me! Pressed Powder in Shade 135 Creamy Natural - I dust a bit of this on with a Kabuki brush to set my foundation. It helps to prevent creasing and does a decent job of controlling oil. My beef is the compact it comes in - not a fan of this packaging. Purchased at PharmaPlus

MAC Eye Shadow Quad: Copperplate, Smut, Haux and Jest - These are some of my favorite MAC shadows, which I have been using in their quad combination, or in conjunction with other shadows. I find these shades very versatile and tend to use at least one of them every day. Copperplate makes and awesome brow filler and crease color, Jest is the best highlighter color I have, Haux is my favorite lid color, and Smut is probably my favorite MAC shadow ever. Purchased at MAC.ca

NYC Blushable Créme Stick in 647U South St. Seashell - I am still neglecting my powder blush in favor of cream formulas. NYC makes a great affordable cream blush that I've been using more and more lately. They remind me a lot of NARS Multiples. This particular shade is a warm tawny coral - a wonderful neutral shade that adds a hint of sunshine to my cheeks. Purchased at PharmaPlus

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original - I am really loving Urban Decay's new packaging for UDPP. It makes it so much easier to control how much you want to use and it's also much more sanitary. I use the teeny tiniest amount of this every day - this tube is going to be around for awhile! While it still isn't as good as the NARS Smudge Proof Eye Shadow Base, it comes a close second - and it's a few dollars cheaper. Purchased from Sephora.ca

Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder in Translucent - This powder has been virtually ignored since I reviewed it. Lately though, it's been living in my makeup bag. I use this to add some shimmer to my face on days where I don't want to wear blush or bronzer - I also use it all over my lid before I apply shadow to add some shimmer. It's also great to use on my eyes when I just want my face to look fresh and I don't plan on wearing any other eye makeup aside from mascara. Purchased at PharmaPlus

I also have some 'randoms' I thought I would include. These are things that have also peaked my interest this month.

So I am a HUGE Gleek. I've been watching this a ton over the past month. My favorite character?



That's right, Santana Lopez. Her bitchy one-liners are awesome and I love her singing voice. I'm glad that the writers are giving her (and a lot of the other Glee club members) more story lines and songs this season. I also like Brittany and Artie, Mercedes, Kurt and Coach Beiste!

Another thing that I've been obsessed with is my Kobo e-Reader.



I just got it last week and I've been using it a ton. I am completely converted to e-reading now. It's like I was when I bought my first iPod - I've never bought a CD since! I doubt very much that I'll purchase a hardcopy book ever again...unless there are super special circumstances involved! My e-reader is 'pearlized lilac' - purple! and I have a nice black Roots leather case for it so that I can cart it around in my purse without damaging it.

I am itching to read everyone else's monthly favorites. It's great to see what everyone else is using month to month.

I hope you all have a lovely week! :)

REVIEW: Physician's Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush

Product Brand and Name, Price (CDN), Where Purchased

Physician’s Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush in Natural, $15.99 CDN @ PharmaPlus

Reason for Purchase

I saw this product in an issue of In Style from a couple of months back. The look of the product (namely the hearts pressed into the powder) hooked me and I knew I wanted to buy at least one item from the collection.

Notable Features

Here’s what Physicians Formula has to say on the box the compact comes in:

- Ultra-soft blendable blushing powder features a fresh and vibrant mix of blushing tones to create a healthy glow.
- Infused with our Happy Boost Blend featuring Happy Skin and Euphoryl, natural plant extracts, which have been shown to promote a feeling of happiness by mimicking the effect of Endorphins.
- The sweet scent of Violet provides a feeling of joy each time you apply.

The blush powder is pressed with heart shapes in it; it’s very cute!

Packaging

This blush comes in Physician’s Formula’s standard compact; but this time, the compact is a hot metallic pink! You can lift the blush pan up to reveal a mirror on its underside, and spot for a small blush brush. The brush has a handle that is the same color of plastic as the compact, and the bristles (synthetic) are half pink and the other half is red.

Experience Using Product

When I first opened up the blush compact and applied it to my cheeks, I didn’t smell violets at all. Unless I stick my nose right over the pan, I still don’t smell violets when I use the blush.

This shade of blush is very very pink; I was expecting it to be more coral and tawny. When I use this blush, I try to use a fluffy blush brush and blend all of the different colored hearts together to get a good mix of all of the colors. A more shaped and dense blush brush would probably do a better job at picking up just one or two specific colors in the pan. Additionally, this blush has a finely milled shimmer to it; it is not matte at all. The blush gives you a nice healthy flush.

I do feel happier when I use this blush, but I know that it’s not related to the ingredients of this blush - it is because of the way it looks! It’s just so darn cute. I get excited to use this blush when I see it in my kit - it just looks happy.

Would I Re-Purchase, Recommend, or Reject

I do not put too much stock into the therapeutic properties of the ingredients in this product. With that said, the product itself is adorable and makes you feel happy just looking at it.

If you are a collector of MAC Mineralize Blushes, you do not need this product. This particular blush is a lot like a Mineralize Blush, in that it gives your cheeks the same look and finish.

I don’t think I will re-purchase this product. God knows, the one I’ve got will probably last me a long time!

If you want more information about this product, check out the Physician’s Formula website here.

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