BEAUTY | July 2026 Ipsy "Passort to Play" Bag

Don't make fun of me. I know it says July at the top, but over the years I have developed a habit of never reviewing my beauty subscriptions on time. Before, it was because I was subbed to TOO MANY and now that I only have Ipsy, I just lose track of time and think I have more of it than I do! I have actually been enjoying my monthly beauty bags and have used up and discovered MANY products this year that I loved enough to buy in full! That would make a great post actually for the end of the year! I will hopefully be caught up before the end of 2026 as I have already been using August's products and have some thoughts! 

Purchased by me

This month's bag was, to take a 90's phrase, DA BOMB! I loved everything in this bag to the point where two things are on my wishlist to purchase as full size products! Even the little cosmetic pouch with the sunglasses charm was very cute!

NAILS | Delicate Dots #CBBxManiMonday

I had my nails done on Sunday - really! What makes the Monday uploads challenging is the fact that I still use my old DSLR which has an SD Card that does not play nice with my Mac so I have to use my now 11 year old Lenovo laptop to upload and edit the photos with Picasa. PICASA people! The last update was in 2015 and so I can't even download it anymore if I want. Picasa has this one colour adjustment function for my nail photos that is just one simple click that I haven't been able to replicate in any other app so here I am on my ghetto app! Suffice it to say, this editing process adds a layer of inconvenience that tends to delay my posting on Mondays!

Purchased by me

I really enjoyed doing nail art with thermal polish that differentiated the temperature change last week so since my ever-growing nails were surprisingly still intact (except for a broken middle nail on my right hand), I whipped out Cirque Color's Luna which while subtle on the colour change, is one of my favourite shades to wear because it reminds me of unicorns, clouds and all things magical 🦄✨!  

NAILS | Moustaches #CBBxManiMonday

I realized last weekend that I didn't really have an idea as to what I wanted to wear on my nails for today, only that I wanted to take advantage of my long nails on BOTH hands! Although since then, the middle nail on my right hand has broken, but everything else is still intact which is amazing since it has been a really busy week where I usually start to "stress-break" my nails. My goal for this Holiday season is to try to be as nice as possible to everyone no matter how stupidly they behave!

 

Purchased by me

This is probably the first time I have featured a polish twice as the "main attraction", but when my nails are long, a thermal polish like Cadillacquer's Eivor looks so nice because there are often two colours showing at any given time!  

SHEET MASK | Miniso x Strawberry Shortcake Sheet Mask Collection

I completely forgot about Sheet Mask Sunday last Sunday as we were recovering from a Halloween party from the night before. I swear that now if I stay out past 10pm I am a zombie the next day and it is even worse if I stay out on a work night. I often struggled with it even in my early 30s and now I actually start to feel physically ill around 9pm if I am still out which is so sad, but I guess that's the joy of getting older 😩.

Purchased by me

This is the era of nostalgia and I am all for it as I loved watching Strawberry Shortcake and her friends growing up so when I saw these sheet masks at Miniso while out on my work lunch break, I had to grab all three scents!

MAKEUP | Happy Halloween with Cruella de Vil

As I mentioned on Monday, the last week has been very crazy and as it turned out, the rest of this week has been busy as well! Not quite as socially straining as last week, but I feel like I have been pulled in a few different directions with the end result being that my work desk is filled with half completed things and that replies to emails are definitely more delayed. I have often said that a source of pride for me are my follow-up skills, but when there is too much work on my plate, I start to forget. What I would like is two days off in a row which I am only getting next week so I need to survive just a bit more, not get sick and then be ready for the holiday season!

Halloween is one of my favourite times of the year when it comes to beauty, nail art and seasonal decor. I love Halloween-themed snacks, some movies (mainly the ones in cartoon form or by Disney), but oddly enough, dressing up in costume is probably my least favourite thing to do. Face makeup yes, but outside of that I actually get a bit stressed about the logistics of putting a costume together!

NAILS | Witchy Vibes with Sation Ego-Friendly #CBBxManiMonday

As I mentioned last week, I had a SUPER crazy work week last week so I took Sunday off to recharge and sleep in as I didn't realize how much tension I was holding onto until it was all over. My apartment is a mess, I haven't been Pixyling for Halloween because I have been so tired once I am not working and I feel like everything has been put on pause for the last two weeks. A not-so-nice work incident happened last week as well that only reiterated what I suspected and while it didn't happen directly to me, it happened to someone on my team which was annoying. At any rate, I know that we are handling it with professionalism and I only hope that the universe agrees (way to be cryptic, I know). 

Purchased by me

I really thought I would have the energy and the time to do a fun Halloween nail art manicure, but I had to keep my nails neutral last week for a brand visit and that brings us to this week where I STILL have a few more work things to get through, but hopefully I make it through without getting sick as cold and flu season is now upon us and I have yet to get my flu shot!