BEAUTY | April 2026 Ipsy Original Bag

Purchased by me

This review I have definitely been sitting on because I realized by entire Instagram feed was nails, sheet masks, Ipsy Original bags and repeat! It was getting a bit samesy to me and it also made me realized that I have been beauty blogging without a real plan for the month. I used to LOVE planning out themes and such, but the last two years have been rough. Once I have two days off, I feel like I can think and feel excited about content creation, but then I create my plan and it all goes to shambles once I work 1-2 days. I definitely do not have the same stamina as when I was in my 30s! My goal with these Ipsy reviews is to catch up for the summer because I find summer products really are more specific to summer and it will let me get back on track!

SHEET MASK | Augustinus Bader Hydrogel Face Mask with TFC8

Purchased by me

I just wrapped up my one week of vacation and what I love about how I tend to structure my time off is that I leave mid-week and I come back on a Friday because while it is still a weekday, you cannot really follow up on anything because everyone is already packing up for the weekend! Then I work Saturday where I can have more time to catch up and then come Monday, I am ready for the week!

SKINCARE | Sunscreen 2026 Edition

Some PR marked with *

It's that time again! I used to use a ton of different sunscreens throughout summer, but in the spirit of reducing unnecessary spending "for the sake of the blog", I have stopped doing this as I have actually had to throw quite a few out because sunscreens expire. Some, I have continued to use as primers like the ones from Supergoop, but generally I try to use them all up before reviewing new ones and I think I've been doing alright! In fact, one of the sunscreens featured today has now been used up!

NAILS | We Love Purple #CBBxManiMonday

One purchased by me

As I type this, I am nestled in a blanket as I watch a live replay of Stage 3 of the Tour de France. What a vacation life right? For the last two years, we have done a one month subscription to Flo Bikes as they are the only place in Canada that shows TDF. Before, you had to subscribe for the whole year for something like $150, but now you can pay $49.99 CDN for one month which is perfect! I have tried to keep up with the other Grand Tours during the year, but TDF is truly the most exciting!

SHEET MASK | Miniso Comic Style Facial Sheet Mask Collection

Purchased by me

With a Miniso location a block away from my work, I go from time to time to pick up Asian snacks and check out Asian skincare and makeup. Miniso has a number of house brand sheet masks and a few months ago, I came across these very attractively packaged sheet masks that looked cute and had some fun-smelling scents.

EMPTIES | June 2026 (The month I finished an entire eyeshadow stick!)

I officially started my "birthday vacation" yesterday and I launched it all fairly hard with going downtown and having dinner at Miku amongst the FIFA and Canada Day festivities so my husband and I were completely "peopled-out" by the time we got home. And on top of that, I was anxious driving home because Evelyn's (the name of my 2004 Honda Civic) engine light came on. I felt the car shudder a bit before it came on so I think it might be a spark plug issue, but I was just praying she would make it home in one piece and I wouldn't have to call a tow truck on a holiday!

 

PR marked with *

I feel like I did really well with my empties last month, but when I look at these photos they seem so unimpressive despite my intense focus on finishing products I've had for awhile! Nonetheless, I am still very proud of myself LOL! Firstly, finishing this Dior Star Foundation* that I kid you not is probably 10 years old was a huge accomplishment! I scooped and scraped as much as I could before finally giving up and cleaning out the bottle which took probably 20 minutes! The other product that I used up was the Rare Beauty Eyeshadow Stick in the shade Contentment which I already had a backup of because I use it almost everyday for work! I was also scraping it out of the tube with a little metal tool so I was proud that I got the absolute max value out of it!