SKINCARE | La Prairie Cellular Radiance Perfecting Fluide Pure Gold

I may have inadvertently lied to you all in one of my last skincare posts in saying that the most expensive item in my rotation was the $240 May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon. Like Blue Cocoon, I hoard this product and was using it sparingly last year before having to move on to something else like all good little bloggers, but by far, THE most expensive skincare item in my collection is my La Prairie Cellular Radiance Perfecting Fluide Pure Gold* for the luxurious price tag of $715!

 La Prairie Cellular Radiance Perfecting Fluide Pure Gold

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MAKEUP LOOK | Kristen Leanne Made Me a Unicorn UDxKL

I honestly thought I was just going to do one look with the Urban Decay x Kristen Leanne Kaleidoscope Eyeshadow Palette and then I delved into a playlist of all of Kristen's videos using it and came across this green eye makeup tutorial which of course looked amazing on Kristen's big, blue white person eyes, but would it translate on someone with half the lid space? 

Green Makeup Look

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EVENT | La Prairie x Holt Renfrew White Caviar Creme Extraordinaire Pop Up Lounge

I love chatting skincare with fellow skincare enthusiasts and when given the opportunity to pick the brain of the La Prairie Education Executive in a lounge while eating macarons dedicated to the launch of a fabulous new $900 brightening daily moisturizer, you do not say no! From March 15-31st, La Prairie has been hosting a pop-up lounge at Holt Renfrew to celebrate the launch of White Caviar Creme Extraordinaire! This lounge is open to the public and filled with Insta-worthy activities and beauty treatments ranging from a quick 5-10 minute hand massage or illuminated eye treatment to a 45 minute mySkin dermograph consultation or White Caviar Facial Treatment (by appointment)! 

Holt Renfrew La Prairie Pop Up Lounge

NAILS | Hello Spring! #ManiMonday

I loved the shades in last week's manicure so much that I knew I had to use CND's new Chic Shock collection in today's ManiMonday! CND also has a new Nudes collection and while browsing Instagram for some nailspiration, I came across a manicure by @lacqueredlady using CND polishes oddly enough, but more importantly had a really great take on a flowered dotticure. 

Flower Dotticure Nail Art

HAIR | Introducing Kristin Ess! New and Exclusive to Well.ca in Canada!

I am so happy - for my HAIR. I had never heard of hairstylist Kristin Ess until I heard about her products coming to Well.ca and the packaging alone roped me in. Then there is the price. These products look like they should cost way more than they do, but I haven't seen a single product cost more than $18 which is the idea behind Kristin Ess products - affordable luxury haircare and styling products so that anyone can have beautifully effortless hair!

EASTER | Lush Limited Edition Easter Goodies!

Honestly, I love writing about Lush collections because it's just so darn easy to be in such a good mood the ENTIRE time I'm writing. Each product smells and looks so cute that you can't help, but feel happy. I say this with every Lush collection, but really THIS ONE is the cutest! I actually have some crazy favourites this year. Like on par with Scrubee favourite! 

Lush Easter Collection Review

NAILS | Red Carpet Manicure Color Dip Video with London Drugs!

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a few teasers that I was back in the studio shooting another YouTube video with London Drugs! If you haven't seem my first one, check out my Halloween collaboration here! This video is all about how to use the Red Carpet Manicure Color Dip system which you may have seen last year as these "nail polish powders" were sort of a new way of doing acrylic nails, but at home! The dipping aspect is pretty cool and I definitely got an easy 2 weeks of wear using this new system because the finish is so rock hard strong! There is a bit of a learning curve, but hopefully this video helps!


I hope everyone enjoys the tutorial because I was really nervous about this one since it was a little out of my element! I think it turned out alright in the end and I may even pick up more powder colours!

London Drugs is currently sold out of the Starter Kits online, but head on over to your local London Drugs and you should be able to find the kit there! 

MAKEUP | Urban Decay x Kristen Leanne Collection with Swatches & Look

I ain't gonna lie. I had no idea who Kristen Leanne was. Sure, I watch YouTube, but I only know the really big guys like LustreLux, Desi Perkins and you know, those people who go to Bora Bora with Tarte. I also only tend to know more bloggers since that is the space I choose to reside in so when I attended the launch party of this collection in Vancouver back in January, I was more excited to see the collection in person than the meet and greet with Kristen Leanne. Then I found out that she was the brains behind the hair colour Arctic Fox and it all made sense! A number of my saved photos for coloured hair had people with Arctic Fox hair colour so it was reassuring to find SOME sort of connection to Kristen as I was feeling like I had been living under a rock!

Urban Decay x Kristen Leanne Collection Review

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NAILS | Gold Dry Brush #ManiMonday

This is one of those manicures that didn't turn out the way I had hoped, but hey. You just roll with it right? I was loving the Louboutin Batignolles turquoise polish so much that I wanted to pair it off with gold so I thought "Why not dry brush some gold on top?!" I think this would have worked with a metallic polish instead of the shimmery polish I decided on, but I figured I would share it with you guys anyway. The design looked great from a distance, but up close not so much. 

Gold Dry Brush Nail Art

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BODY | Tata Harper Smoothing Body Scrub

This is one of those posts where I am super unhappy with the photos. I have been trying to experiment with different product layouts, but I took a whackload of photos last year because I was trying to be productive and have the photos "just in case". Now, I have decided to focus on my flatlay game which has always been a challenge for me so thank you to those of you who have left encouraging comments on my IG photos! This also means that I mentally cannot "curate" more than three or four flatlays because I just find it so exhausting even though I have all of the "common" pieces that flatlays should have.

Mini rant aside, let's focus on more splurgeworthy products and add to this glorious CBB "Worth the Splurge" linky of products that has been MOST entertaining for my wallet. It has been a hot minute since I have chatted about Tata Harper here on Cosmetic Proof, but many of you know that I am a huge fan. I rebuy her products all the time despite the price tag because they really are effective and have worked for both myself and my husband, who grudgingly hates the face that the Tata Harper Repairative Moisturizer seems to keep his skin from breaking out. Obviously Tata is fantastic at skincare, but she also has some great body products so when she released her Smoothing Body Scrub (150mL/$95.00 CDN), the exfoliation fiend in me had to have it!

Tata Harper Smoothing Body Scrub

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NAILS | Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I was super tired Friday night until I realized that I didn't want to miss out on having green nails for St.Patrick's Day! I don't even really drink and I had to work today so it's not like anyone other than my co-workers would have seen my nails in person, but YOU Internet would have seen them so that was a good enough reason to get my nails dolled up for the day! 


SKINCARE | Nannette de Gaspe Youth Revealed Dry Mouth Mask

Don't I look oh so serious? This beard of a face mask from Nannette de Gaspe is right on theme with this month's CBB topic of splurgeworthy products because this Youth Revealed dry sheet mask for the mouth is...$100! The price is softened slightly by the fact that this is a multi-use mask (I've used mine up to 5x even though the packaging says 3x) because it is a DRY SHEET MASK. I have talked about dry sheet masks before including the full face version of this mask from Nannette de Gaspe (review) and the Charlotte Tilbury Dry Sheet Mask (review) which is the same Canadian technology. I gave quite a bit of background on dry sheet masks and how they work in my previous two posts so have a look at those if you would like a thorough rundown! 

Nannette de Gaspe Youth Revealed Mouth Mask Review

NAILS | CND Chic Shock Goes Leopard Print

Just this past Tuesday I had the pleasure of previewing the new Spring CND Chic Shock collection and receiving a Chic Shock manicure of my own at the always cute Onyx Aesthetics Studio downtown. Usually I am rushing back to work so I rarely get a real manicure done, but not today! Today I had the day off and all the time in the world to enjoy getting pampered and I have often said that I don't let other people do my nails, but not only did I let Linda, owner and founder of Onyx, do  my nails, but also some nail art!

What is exciting about this new four polish collection is that there is a new formula AND brush! The new Caring Complex formula contains keratin, jojoba oil and vitamin E with an extra wide curved brush to hug the nail curves just right. When they told me this, I was like, "There is nothing to fix! I liked the brush and the formulas!" I thought CND couldn't make either better, but they did! The extra wide brush is wide, but not clunky and the formula was perfectly self-leveling and opaque.

Pastel Leopard Print Nail Art

MAKEUP | MAKE UP FOR EVER *Newly Formulated* Artist Color Eye Shadow

Those Instagram story beauty Q & A templates got me thinking about what my favourite makeup brand is and obviously, that question is a tough one to answer, but while I was getting a pedicure yesterday I thought about which brand I reach for on a daily basis and it dawned on me that it was none other than MAKE UP FOR EVER! Sure, I switch up products here and there, but whenever I am lazy or wanting to bring makeup on a trip that I KNOW will not fail me, I always have something from MUFE in my makeup bag whether it's their Smoky Extravagant Mascara or their trusty Aqua Shadows.

When it comes to eyeshadow formulation, MUFE won me over with the massive launch in 2014 of their Artist Shadows which I still happily use to this day. Over the holiday season, I hosted a giveaway featuring the MUFE Lustrous Shadow Palette (here) which was a preview of the new Artist Color Eye Shadows ($22.00 CDN)! This new formulation boasted 12 hour wear all in one pigmented swipe and get ready for this, comes in 121 shades and 5 finishes! These shadows are now housed in an optional refillable magnetic palette ($2 CDN) which comes with a fantastically large mirror! This was probably the thing that bothered me the most about the old Artist Shadow palettes - there was no mirror!

MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Color Eyeshadow Review

SKINCARE | May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon Beauty Balm Concentrate

May Lindstrom is fairly new to the skincare game, joining many other luxury green beauty players we have seen emerge from all over the world. There has been a movement in skincare in the last 3-4 years that has opened up an acceptance for green beauty products to better represent the healthier lifestyle that is becoming more and more predominant. Within any space there will always be a spectrum of pricing and where we are going today borders on extravagant if not crazy for some. May Lindstrom's The Blue Cocoon comes in at the hefty price tag of $240 CDN for 50g, but before you pass out, I have my reasons for why I have come to love this gem of a product!

May Lindstrom The Blue Cocoon Beauty Balm Concentrate Review

NAILS | Christian Louboutin Loubitag Nail Polish in Batignolles #ManiMonday

I probably would have talked about this polish anyway because I am such a nail polish collector that packaging is almost just as coveted as formula, but in joining in on the CBB theme this month of "Is It Worth the Splurge?", say hello to the new for Spring Christian Louboutin Loubitag polish in the shade Batignolles! There are six Loubitag polishes coming in sets of two for, I believe $75 CDN. They are the mini bottles at 6mL each so when it comes to a luxury price for polish, these guys take the cake!


MAKEUP | Kat Von D #StuddedKiss Influenster Voxbox

When it comes to "cool" makeup, Kat Von D is right up there. While I haven't been a huge fan of hers post Sandra Bullock/Jesse James scandal, I do admire what she has done with her makeup brand. I feel like she was one of the first to come out with more dramatic lipstick shades and give makeup more of an edge while staying relatively mainstream. KVD lip products have always been consistently pigmented, long-lasting and one of my favourite go-tos for lipwear and last month a new formula for the Studded Kiss Creme Lipstick* ($23.00 CDN) emerged!   


NAILS | A Day with Essie Treat Love & Colour

Some Essie newness has dropped and I was actually kind of excited. In the world of nail polish, Essie has typically not been my favourite brand. Though their original line of polishes had some cult classic shades that I had to own (Bikini So Teeny, Marshmallow etc.) they were never my first choice mainly due to the skinny application brush. The formulas were good, but the colours were also never wild enough for me though the cremes are brilliant for nail art. Earlier this week, I was very impressed by both the formula and brush of the Essie Gel Couture polishes and now I am nodding in my head in agreement for the newest shades of the Treat Love & Colour line!

Essie Treat Love & Colour Polka Dot Nail Art

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MAKEUP LOOK | Lise Watier Urban Velocity Collection

I messed up my neck so sitting here and typing is agonizing even with the Advil and massage I managed to get from my husband, but the new Spring collection from Lise Watier has been one that I have been excited to talk about so I am going to suck it up and take you through the light-hearted and fresh Urban Velocity

Lise Watier Urban Velocity Collection

NAILS | Black, Black Hearts #ManiMonday

Do I have any David Usher fans? I was so into that song in 2001 and though I wasn't into Moist, I was into David Usher once he went solo. I feel like I haven't done my nails in forever which is kind of true having missed last week's ManiMonday, but today I felt like FINALLY using the Essie Gel Couture polishes!


SKINCARE | The Face Shop Mask Lab Double Wrap Face Mask

It has been a hot minute since I have used a sheet mask as I didn't bother with anything beauty-related while I was sick last week. I am still a little bit congested, but definitely feeling so much better than the fever-induced stupor I was in last week. I keep a stack of face masks on the dining table to remind myself to use certain ones and a couple of days ago, I was in the mood for another Mask.Lab face mask from The Face Shop. I still really like the foil face mask, but decided to see what this Double Wrap Face Mask ($4.00 CDN) was all about! Hugo is unimpressed as always.

The Face Shop Mask.Lab Double Wrap Face Mask Review

MAKEUP | Clarins SOS Primer in Green and Universal Light

Last year was the year I took my primers seriously. I have soooo many primers, but I found I was only using them for special occasions or particularly long days. I never made them a regular part of my makeup routine until the summer of last year when I realized that a good primer could prevent my foundation from breaking down or make my skin glow by the end of the day instead of look greasy. There was a time when there was only one kind of makeup primer and it was the kind that had so much silicone in it that yes, it made your pores blurry, but made your skin so smooth that it was almost unnatural. Thank goodness for the variety of primers now that feel are closer to skincare than they are to makeup!

When it comes to skincare, Clarins is one of those older beauty houses I trust and at 64 years in the business, when they come out with a makeup product, I tend to trust the formulations and ingredients a bit more than some brunette millennial. Coming in 6 shades, the Clarins SOS Primers are colour-correcting, lightweight, oil-free and feel more like a moisturizer than they do your typical primer.  

Clarins SOS Primer Review

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