Favourite Nail Polish

I wear nail polish pretty much all year - reason being is if I don't have any nailpolish on I will bite my nails. So needless to say I've tried many many many brands and colours. But my all time, absolute favourite is JOE FRESH!!!!! The colours are stunning, it applies smoothly and it has awesome staying power. It doesn't chip for a long time! I am very impressed.

Here's the thing - people might think that it's cheap since you can get 3 for $10 CAD. But the truth is that the bottles are a lot smaller than other brands you might find out there. So in reality, the price of Joe Fresh nailpolish (ml for ml) is actually the same as that of high end brands like OPI and China Glaze (Yes I did the math lol).

I love them all but my favourite colour is Coral.

You can check it out at http://www.joefresh.com/en/bath_beauty/products/nails/

50s makeup

I really like 50s makeup - it's versatile, classy and has stood the test of time. You can always personalize it by changing the shade of lipstick, or adding extreme lashes.

Products used:
- Clinique gel liner
- Lise Watier eyeshadow in beige glace
- Yaby light brown shadow for the crease
- OPI red lip liner and Inglot red lipstick
- Cinema Secrets Foundation
- Cover FX loose powder
- Gosh bronzer to contour
- Mac lashes #35
- White eyeliner in the waterline

Olay Regenerist Touch of Foundation VS Total Effects Touch of Foundation

Let's face it - I am lazy when it comes to the morning makeup routine and more often then not I end up doing my makeup in the car!!! So cutting corners is what I'm all about and that's why  I decided to try the Olay moisturizers with a touch of foundation - they are esentially tinted moisturizers but the only issue is that they are only available in one shade. You will be fine with the colour if your complexion is fair-medium. If your skin is very light, then these might end up slightly too dark.

They are both quite decent at evening out the skin tone, they are well formulated and even contain sunscreen. They are not completely matte - they have a slight sheen which gives skin a healthy glow. But if you are pro-matte, then you can always use powder over it.

So which one do I prefer? At the moment, Olay Regenerist because it is slightly more matte than the Total Effects and I love the way it blends on my skin but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of the two.

Flat Iron - Croc Titanium

I dropped my flat iron and surprise surprise it broke. I needed to get a new one so as with all my purchases I dived into serious research.

After endless hours spent reading about flat irons I found THE ONE - Croc Titanium.

The reasons I chose this iron:
- adjustable heat settings (goes up to 450 F but I doubt anyone really needs to use it at such a high heat)
- titanium plates which cause less damage than ceramic and actually make your hair look shinier
- auto-turn off feature: the iron turns off after 30 minutes of idleness

It really does work well and I would recommend it. I got mine from http://www.folica.com/

It arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Coastal Scents order that I placed on Monday arrived today at noon!!!!!!!! How's that for fast shipping?!? Anyways, I didn't get a chance to use everything but I will post a review for most of the items when I have a chance to use them for a longer period of time. But the one thing I can say is that I am loving the Bionic Flat Top Buffer Brush. It will be perfect for a flawless foundation application.

In other news, I was shopping at Winners yesterday and noticed they have ABT (Advanced Beauty Tools) brushes for a MUCH lower price than at their online store. I decided to forgo the brushes since I just got 15 new brushes from Coastal Scents, but I keep thinking about them so I might have to go back and pick up a set just to try. I'm really curious to see how well they actually work. And the brush obsession continues....

Yellow/Black Eye Makeup

I decided to play around with some bright colour combinations again and this time decided to use yellow and black. I promise I will stay away from yellow for the next little while.:) I guess I go for yellow whenever I play around with colours because it's a difficult colour to pull of on a regular basis but it's quite fun and makes such a huge impact.

Check it out..

Products Used:
- Too Faced Shadow Insurance
- Ben Nye Creme Color in Yellow
- Inglot matte yellow eyeshadow
- NYX matte black eyeshadow (for the crease colour and eyeliner)
- MAC Smolder eyeliner for the waterline
- Ardell Lashes

Coastal Scents Sale - 33% off

There is a sale at Coastal Scents running until November 29th, 2010 midnight EST. They are offering 33% off the entire store!! Yep that's right - 33% off EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! I love a sale like this and usually have a hard time controlling myself. Today I've decided  I will buy some brushes and a few makeup palettes just for fun - but will limit my spend to $100-ish.


Creative Me Combo Set


I am getting:
15 brushes
The Creative Me combo set
1 lip pencil
2 dual eyeliner pencils
New Smokey Eyeshadow palette (which I plan on giving away as a gift)

I'll let you know how this works out - I am especially excited about the brushes :)

The website is http://www.coastalscents.com/

Clinique Bonus at the Bay

I usually don't buy new makeup just to get the bonus because in my experience, the products they give you are usually not the same quality as the original items. But this time around I really needed a new powder and so I managed to get the bonus as well.

You have to spend $26.50 CAD before taxes and this is what you get:

- High Impact Mascara in Black

- High Impact Lip Colour in Extreme Pink

- Colour Surge Eyeshadow Quad

- All About Eyes Serum De-Puffing Eye Massage

- Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion

- 7 Day Scrub Cream Rinse-Off Formula

I tried all the products and I quite like them. The mascara is very good actually and I would consider getting the full size. I also like the shadows - they are not extremely pigmented but perfect for daytime. I love the texture of the lipstick but so much the colour. All in all it's a good set to try Clinique's products.



Bridal Makeup

A couple of months ago I had the honour of doing Mirjana's makeup for her wedding. I had a lot of fun doing her makeup especially considering she's a bit of a makeup junkie like me so it was awesome discussing all the cool and new products.

By the way, this girl has the most amazing skin and beautiful features so doing her makeup was truly a pleasure.



Photography: Charity Swords



Yellow/Purple Eyeshadow

Today I decided to play with fun colours again and this is the result:

Products Used:
Ben Nye Creme Colors as an eyeshadow base
Inglot and 88-Pallete yellow eyeshadow
Variety of purple shadows from the Coastal Scents 88 Matte palette
NYX black eyeshadow as liner
Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara

P.S. I really really love that mascara. It really lengthens and keeps the lashes curled. Check out this picture:

Mascaras on sale!!!!!!!!

I stopped by Fortinos on my way home from work today and noticed they had a lot of make-up on sale :)

I got Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express for $3.99! (Regular price 7.99). This was a great find, it's actually one of my favourite mascaras.

I also got L'Oreal Voluminous for $4.99 (regular price $8.99). I really didn't plan on buying any makeup, let alone TWO mascaras but I just couldn't resist the price. They also had a few of the L'Oreal HIP shadows on sale so I picked up the silver/black one.

I will try the L'Oreal mascara and the shadow over the next couple of days and will report back.

Gosh Bronzer - Natural Glow

I have to go out in a few minutes so I'll make this a quick post. This summer Gosh came out with a limited edition collection which included an amazing bronzer. This bronzer has replaced Benefit's Hoola as my #1 bronzer. The texture is amazing and the colour is just perfect. It doesn't contain any shimmer so if that's what you are after than this bronzer is not for you. It retailed for $20 CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart Locations. I'm really really sad that this was a limited edition item and I am going to try my best to find a few more as backups. But anyways, try it...you'll love it!

 P.S. It looks quite light in this picture but it's actually a medium bronze shade.

Dior Amber Diamond

Today I started thinking about what makeup I would be bringing on my next vacation which will be in 3 weeks for my sister's bachelorette :) You may think it's insane to think about what makeup to pack 3 weeks in advance, but considering I brought way too much of it last time I decided to better plan this time. I am only bringing 1 bag of makeup. THAT'S IT!

If there was one item I couldn't go without it would be the Dior Amber Diamond shimmer. This powder is absolutely perfect for highlighting the tops of cheekbones, browbone, down the centre of nose and above the lip and really anywhere else that you want to add a touch of shimmer. The best thing about this highlighter is that it's not at all glittery. It's a very fine shimmer which allows the light to catch it. I was even able to use it as a very sheer eyeshadow when I didn't have anything else. I LOVE IT! It is probably my favourite makeup item at the moment. I never leave home without it :) It's a bit pricey at $44 USD but considering a little goes a long way I expect it will last a year if not longer.

P.S. The picture above doesn't do it justice. You gotta check it out

Another challenge: Primer Potion vs. Shadow Insurance

Today I decided to do another challenge (one that luckily didn't leave me with a smudged eye at work!) and I compared Urban Decay Primer Potion and Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

I primed one eye with Primer Potion and the other with Shadow Insurance. I then applied Smashbox eyeshadow and waited for the results. About 12 hours later, the results are in...and not as exciting as I anticipated. Both products delivered and work pretty much the same way. The only difference I noticed is that the eyeshadow was slightly (very slightly) darker on the eye that was primed using the Urban Decay primer.

So which one do I prefer? Too Faced Shadow Insurance and only because it's packaging is easier to use and more hygienic. Not to mention half of the product is wasted as the original packaging of the Primer Potion is horrible. Although good news for UDPP lovers - Urban Decay released a limited edition large Primer Potion that is packaged the same way as Shadow Insurance. I might buy it for my kit.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance   $18 USD 0.35 oz
Urban Decay Primer Potion       $18 USD 0.34 oz
Urban Decay Primer Potion       $29 USD 0.85 oz

Eyeliner Sealer vs. Water

I really like the precision of a liquid liner, but hate the somewhat glossy look. So my solution to this problem is an eyeliner sealer. I use the Cinema Secrets Eyeliner Sealer mixed with an eyeshadow (my current favourite is NYX black) and voila - a perfect line.

So today I thought, what if using water is just as effective as the eyeliner sealer and decided to do a little experiment. I did one eye using the eyeliner sealer and the other using water. Hate to disappoint, but the eye that was done with water had smudged approximately 30 minutes after it was done. The other eye is still perfect 10 hours later. And yes I did spend the whole day at work with one eye perfect and the other smudged...hopefully not a lot of people noticed since i was wearing my glasses. Oh the things I do for makeup ...lol

Options:
Cinema Secrets Eyeliner Sealer - $7.49 USD on the site linked above
Lise Watier Metamorfix Liquid Transformer - $14 CAD at Shoppers
Makeup Forever Eye Seal - $20 USD at Sephora

Warning:
Some eyeshadows are not formulated to be used with an eyeliner sealer (or water for that matter) and will glaze over and harden. There isn't really much that can be done after the fact, so I suggest you test a corner of your shadow first.

Sometimes you just want to put as many colours on your eyes as possible....

I got a bunch of NYX makeup when it was on sale. They had tons for $1 each so I got all the colours and things that I normally wouldn't want to pay full price for. Last night I finally got a chance to play with them and this is what I came up with (I tried to use as many of the colours together):



This is what I used (all products NYX unless stated otherwise):
- Jumbo eye pencil in Hot Pink as the base
- Chrome Eyeshadow - in Canary, Orange, Fuschsia and Bayou
- Black eyeshadow mixed with Cinema Secrets Eye Liner Sealer to create liquid eyeliner
- Rimmel Sexy Curves mascara

Marcelle Vita-Lip Plumping Gloss

As is the case with most of my make-up purchases, I picked up this lip gloss on a whim at Fortinos. I used to use some Marcelle products wayyyyy back when, so I thought why not try it again.

According to their website (http://www.marcelle.com/) they list the following claims:

"Moisturizing and plumping effects unite in Marcelle's new Vita-Lip Plumping Gloss. The ideal treat for your lips, it combines a deliciuos glaze of colour with a revitalizing cocktail of active ingredients. The sheer, non sticky formula leaves your lips looking lusciously full, youthful and hydrated."

I definitely wouldn't classify this lip gloss as a plumping gloss - it doesn't plump at all but then again I never expected it to. So now that we have that out of the way, here are the reasons why I love this lip gloss:

-it's not sticky...AT ALL. In fact it feels more like a gel lip product

-the colour is nice and sheer (I got Organza which is a nice pinky, coraly nude)

-it's quite glossy

-the most important of all - it doesn't contain any fragrance. This is a crucial for me because I like to drink coffee and hate tasting my lipstick/gloss with coffee

So yeah, I love it and will probably buy it again...maybe in other colours

And p.s. it's about $10

Joe Fresh Beauty

I generally don't love products right away. It usually takes me a month or two for a product to grow on me or for me to re-discover it after it had been stashed away in a drawer somewhere.

Well I'm happy to report that was not the case with Joe Fresh makeup (at least the stuff I tried thus far).

The first product I got is the Light Weight Foundation. I was actually in the market for a new tinted moisturizer, and while named "foundation" I felt this would probably fit the bill. And there was no harm in trying it - it's $6! The foundation comes in 9 colours - 3 for each category of Light/Medium/Dark.

Here are the pros:

- it goes on quite smoothly and it's easy to blend (but you gotta work fast as it sets to a almost powdery finish quickly)

- the price!!!!! amazing

- the coverage: I'm not kidding when I say this works better as an undereye concealer than any other concealer I have tried to date

- the mattifying power: this sets to a matte finish - and stays that way.

Cons:

- the packaging is mediocre, and the product spills out easily if you dont hold it properly

- All 3 shades in "Light" range have pink undertones.

So overall it's a great product and worth looking into. I will definitely try a lot more from this line - it looks promising!

It's available at Fortinos/Loblaws in Canada.

You can also check it out online at www.joe.ca

Major Disappointment

Since I've been sooo good in the last little while and hardly bought any makeup I thought I would reward my good behaviour with little online shopping at Sleek Makeup and finally get those eyeshadow palettes that I mentioned below.

So I log in to the site, all excited, and lo and behold the prices went up! Well technically they didn't go up, but they are now quoted in US dollars! So the palette that was 4.99 GBP is now listed as $10.00. It's not a HUGE difference per se but when you want to buy every single item on the site, it does add up.

Now it looks like I will hold off on buying Sleek makeup and wait (pray) for it to become available in stores in Canada.

Adesign Brushes - now on sale

The 14-piece Adesign brush set (pictured above) is on sale for $99 (regularly retails for $175). I own this set and have been quite happy with it. There are definitely certain brushes that I like more in this set than others so I will point out the ones I really like to use. Check these brushes out at www.adesignbrushes.com

Small Concealer - great for spot coverage and can also be used as a lip brush

All Over Shadow - is a big fluffy eyeshadow brush that's great to apply just a wash of colour all over the eyelid. Sometimes I also use it to highlight the top of the cheekbones or the bridge of the nose - it's the perfect size for that

Eye 4 - is a good all-purpose small brush. You can use it as an eyeliner brush, to smudge the eyeliner or for detail work

Groomer - what's awesome about this groomer is the fact that it comes with a brush/comb on one end and angled eyebrow brush on the other. It's a perfect 2-in-1 for defining eyebrows

I also like all the face brushes (except the XL Powder because it is simply too big but can be used to add shimmer to the collarbone area or even legs).