December 2012 Empties!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s celebration! I am very full from yet another big family dinner and I feel like I’m all “celebrated out”! I sort of just want to get 2013 started and get those resolutions going! Empties seemed like an appropriate post to end the year with as I’m saying goodbye to both 2012 and product!

BodyDSCF4245

Stud Love with Julep–Gayle

Today I have another wonderful Julep colour that I wore when I started to want something other than the red and green that I’ve been sporting for the better part of the month! Julep – Gayle is a deep aubergine creme and as with every Julep polish I have worn, was smooth and easy to apply in two coats. The only thing I didn’t like about this polish was that you could see every imperfection and every fingerprint! I kept having to wipe my nails down so that they would continue to look shiny.

I then took the opportunity to use some gold studs that I had picked up from Born Pretty which I have seen a lot of girls using in their manicures. I wish the studs would lie flat on the nail as they kept falling off my nails even after many coats of topcoat. Other than that, I really did enjoy wearing them as I wore this manicure with a purple dress that had brass buttons in it. I was completely matching!

gayle_studs

gayle_studs3

I am having such a hard time choosing what to write now because I keep thinking that 2012 is almost over so whatever I post had better be good!

December 2012 Glossybox

Well, what do you know? My December Glossybox actually made it to me yesterday and we are still in December! I know some girls haven’t received their boxes yet so I consider myself fortunate. I LOVED this month’s box. Mostly drugstore items, but again all items I would use. This month’s box is a collaboration with LouLou and came packaged in a silver, instead of the usual matte pink box. I had not seen any previews for the December Glossybox so opening it was truly a surprise! 

Dec

December 2012 Topbox

I really should just come out and say it. I was really not a happy camper when it came to my December Topbox…the quality of the Topboxes has gone down since the waitlist was massively shortened back in October. Those of us who have been subbed for awhile or who have been following what Topbox has given in their boxes in the past will notice this as well. With the $2 increase per month, these smaller sample sizes are not what I have come to expect from Topbox…maybe it is I that needs to adjust my expectations?

Balenciaga Paris Eau de ParfumDSCF4253

A demure violet with airy blossom and delicate peppery notes.

Thoughts: This definitely smells better to me than the last Balenciaga fragrance I received in another Topbox. It’s still not quite my scent, but I will still give it a try and see how it wears on me throughout the day.

Full size: 50mL/$110 or 75mL/$150

I received: 4mL/$8.00 (using second value)

Top 12 Nail Polishes of 2012!

Although the idea isn’t anything particularly new, I’ve never done one of these posts before. I figure, if I’m sitting here reflecting on notable events of 2012 I should mention the nail polishes that have made an impression on me. To some, it may sound superficial how much nail polish is a part of my life, but I consider nail art to be a true hobby of mine and every artist needs a medium and canvas. Nail polish and nails are mine and for many of you. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that nail polish is not only fun and fashionable, but therapeutic in its uses as well. I should add that not all of the nail polishes chosen were released in 2012, so here’s to my favourites of 2012!   

Top 12

Swatch It Up: China Glaze–Running in Circles

Where has this polish been all my life?? I was quite excited when I saw the initial bottle shots of the China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil World’s Away collection and although I already had a number of the colours in the collection in some form, there were two that really stood out to me and Running in Circles is one of them! I’ve never seen a green like this before! At first I thought it was similar to Zoya – Ivanka, but once on the nail, Running in Circles is much more green while Ivanka has more gold. What I have on is two smooth, even, opaque coats and is absolutely gorgeous! This has got to be one of my favourite polishes to date!

cg_runningincircles2

Sadness Mixed with Christmas Joy

Is everyone else just as exhausted from the last couple of weeks as I am?! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas celebration with their loved ones. Mine was a bit of happy and sad as we had to put down our beautiful cat Silver on Christmas Eve…he was 16 years old and I have blogged about my baby before He was sick with cancer and wasn’t eating or drinking at the end. This is my favourite picture of him as he was a bit of a jerk, but would always charm everyone with his pretty face. This is his “I love you and will destroy you” face.

Sept 29 1996 - Dec 24 2012fluffy

xmas_2012

To end the post on a bit of a lighter note, here is what was awaiting me under the tree! Although, much of it I purchased on my own and placed under the tree up until Christmas :) I had a wonderful time with loved ones on Christmas Day which definitely cheered me up, but I will miss my fluffy grey Persian kitty who ate everyone’s food when they weren’t watching and would use his paw to bat food out of your hands! Silver is rolling in catnip heaven now and I am just happy he isn’t in pain anymore.

Beauty Swap Time with Tarah!

This is the second swap that I had going back in October/November and is the second time I have swapped with Tarah, who is an amazing swapper from the States! Everything was individually wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper and I savoured every moment of unwrapping! And no, I couldn’t wait until Christmas! This is what’s so great about being an adult and not living with parents anymore! My turf, my rules!

DSCF4274The Hello Kitty polish is crackle too!

L’Occitane VIP Night

This post is embarrassingly late as the event happened near the beginning of November, but I’ve been wanting to vary the types of posts I have and not post too many hauls since hauls don’t provide any sort of useful information other than, “Look what I got!!”

L’Occitane VIP Night was probably one of the few VIP nights that I’ve gone to in a mall where there was restricted access to those invited during mall hours. On this night, everything in the store was 20% off which pretty much never happens! There were red velvet macaroons, champagne and hors d’oeuvres to complete the shopping experience. Although, it was hard to hold a glass, food AND product!

DSCF4256

November 2012 Beauty Box 5

Does anyone else feel like Christmas is coming quite quickly now?! I’ve been working a lot the last few weeks and the next day I truly have off is Christmas so I am looking forward to it! November’s BB5 was one that I enjoyed mainly because there was something for my lips, eyes, face and hair.

Nov

November 2012 Julep Boho Glam Maven Box

This is super late, I know, but there were some issues with my November order which resulted in my only receiving my November Maven Box in the first week of December. For the month of November, I decided to switch it up from Classic with a Twist to Boho Glam. I don’t think I’ve EVER stuck to my profile! I always choose a different box! November’s theme was all about suede or matte polishes which I only have ONE of because I believe that a matte topcoat is really all a girl needs, but I thought the actual colours offered were quite unique.

DSCF4282

Swatch It Up: Pretty & Polished–Island of Misfit Toys

Hello hello! Today I have another holiday polish to share with you from Pretty & Polished again! I started off with Pop Beauty in a metallic blue with no name on the bottle which was beautiful to work with followed by two coats of Island of Misfit Toys which is a glitter topper composed of glitters of all shapes, colours and sizes. The best part was that there was no fishing for glitter at all!

popnailglam_blue4

pp_islandofmisfittoys2

Merry Christmas Chromosome Nails!

I didn’t think I could mix genetics with Christmas, but after racking my brain for ideas, I came up with a rather interesting design! Here are my chromosome nails accented with Christmas coloured genetic loci! To explain the diagram a bit better, the centromere is where the sister chromatids meet in the center to form a chromosome. To put it simply, the banding patterns on the chromatids represent genes that can code for genetic traits. My fiancé wanted me to be as accurate in my explanation as possible, this is a beauty blog not a genetics textbook! If you would like to know more, I have some good book recommendations!

xmas_chromosomes

On a Bit of a Lucky Streak?

You guys are probably going to hate me, but believe me, I was completely floored when I won Funny Face Beauty’s Elizabeth Arden Giveaway! November was such a learning/tough/stressful month for me that I just took winning another giveaway as a sign from the universe that things would work out eventually. On to the goodies shall we?

DSCF4325

Sample Sundays–Third Edition

This segment of Sample Sundays is coming to you a little bit late because as I suspected, I was a quite optimistic in the last edition of Sample Sundays and it took more than two weeks to get through even half of what I had chosen! Let’s see what’s on the sample menu this week!

DSCF4317

Christmas Trees and Gradients with the Hungry Asian

First off, I have asked Santa for a better camera that is able to capture glitter and not freak out when it sees it! I am bummed that I can show you all what I see in real life, but I hope you get the idea! Julep – Catherine had such a holiday feel to it that there was no way I was going to let it go un-glittered!

I brought out Hungry Asian – On a Budget (such an appropriate polish name for the holidays!) and decided to create a Christmas tree on my ring finger by taping and then a glitter gradient on all of my other nails. On a Budget is a chunky green glitter with large pieces of gold hex glitter that make me think of gold coins sitting in wads of green cash! I can honestly say I do not own a polish like this and at this point, that’s saying a lot!

xmas_tree

xmas_tree2

You can find Hungry Asian polishes in Kae’s Etsy shop. She also has a new Winter collection out so add it to your list of sites to stop at while online shopping! Have a great day everyone!

Review–Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Posy Pink

I don’t know why I haven’t tried a Smashbox product until now when it has been around since I was a teenager! There have been some iconic products produced by this company (sold to Estee Lauder in 2010) the most notable being the Photo Finish Foundation Primer that I’ve been hearing about for the last 10 years!

In my November Luvs, I raved about the Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in “Posy Pink” as one of my new favourite lipsticks after a makeover event at Shoppers Drug Mart and decided that this lipstick actually deserved a review. I don’t do reviews very often and have made a blood blog vow to do more in the new year. I kid, there was no blood involved, but I really do promise to do more in 2013!

Just one swipe and you’ll see this is the stuff beauty legends are made of. From modern mattes to hydrating creams, our ultra-luxe formula glides on for show-stopping, saturated colour every time.

DSCF4301

Swatch It Up: Julep - Catherine

Many of you are familiar with the Julep Maven program and those wonderful rectangular bottles of nail polish offered in every monthly box. I am also fortunate to be a part of the Julep VIP program and was given the opportunity to review a few polishes that fit my “Classic with a Twist” style profile. I will admit that oftentimes, I do not get the “Classic with a Twist” Maven box because I usually already have the colours which must mean that I truly am “Classic with a Twist”!

I have said before that I don’t really care if I wear a nail polish colour that doesn’t necessarily match the season, but there definitely are colours that better match a Fall scarf or sweater and put you in the mood for a specific time of year. Red is one of those colours that always seems appropriate year-round and Catherine is exactly that. Catherine is a red creme and is a bit more berry-toned in real-life. Even though it’s still technically Fall, this is very much a holiday colour as well! I can totally see myself wearing this colour at Christmas parties. I am wearing two coats plus OTD in the picture below, although I probably could have gotten away with one as the opacity of Catherine is incredible! 

DSCF4310

DSCF4313

Now, I have a bit of awesome news if any of you are wanting to purchase from Julep or if you’ve missed out on any of the Christmas promotions that have been going on for the last 12 days. On any purchase $20 or more, receive 20% off when using the code VIP20 at check out!disclaimer

Thinking of becoming a Maven? Feel free to use my referral link or sign up the regular way!

Swap Time with Michal from Israel!

Oooh, this is probably one of the more “exotic” swaps I’ve done because I truly had no clue what was available in Israel except for one of my favourite brands Ahava, so Michal and I just messaged our likes and dislikes to each other, set a budget of around $50 (I ended up going over which always seems to happen) and off we went!

DSCF4264

Review: Have a Holographic Holiday with Make Up For Ever’s Holodiam Collection!

The holiday season is all about sparkles and glitter and it’s probably the only time of the year where I feel comfortable wearing glitter during the day and where I almost expect others to do the same! I work glitter into even my daily eye makeup at work so I was quite excited to see Make Up For Ever’s holiday release of the new Holodiam Collection which consists of two holographic glitter powders and a set of sparkly gold faux lashes to complete your holiday glam look. Today I have a review for both of these holographic powders in the shades #302 and #303.

 

Holodiam Powder #302 (white bg, aerial view)1Holodiam Powder #303 (white bg, aerial view)1Holodiam Faux Lash (white bg)22

Christmas Candy Cane Nails!

I know candy cane nails are nothing new, but I never got a chance to try them last year and I feel like candy cane nails are more of a seasonal thing. Although, with nail polish I am starting to care less and less about the seasons and just wear what feels right at the moment. Carpe Nail Diem!

I started with three coats of NOPI – It’s All About the Glam from the Kardashian Holiday Collection. This is a shimmery white polish that was fairly As cheesy as some of the nail names are from the Kardashian collection (enough with working in the Ks into everything!) I did like this colour and quite a number of others.

nopi_itsallaboutheglam2

November 2012 Glossybox

November’s Glossybox arrived this past Monday for me and it did not disappoint! The theme for November is all about getting ready to sparkle and shine for the holidays and came wrapped in festive red and white tissue and ribbon. I felt like I was unwrapping a real gift! The box was also quite heavy so I was very curious as to what was inside!

Nov_Glossybox

Reversing the Gradient with a Little “Blonde Bombshell”

I finally saw “Skyfall” last week and had to wear a matching manicure to the showing! I was a Pierce Brosnan fan and wasn’t sure how I’d feel about Daniel Craig playing James Bond, but once I saw “Casino Royale”, I was a convert!

For this manicure, I started off with two coats of OPI – Tomorrow Never Dies which is what I would consider a very cool, shimmery purple.

opi_tomorrowneverdies

I then added China Glaze – Blonde Bombshell in small amounts starting from the base of my nail and quickly pulling in downward strokes. I feel like I may have gone a little overboard with the glitter, but it added to the festivities of Christmas!

chinaglaze_blondebombshell2

chinaglaze_blondebombshell3

Oddly enough, I found reverse gradients harder to do than regular gradients…anyone else a fan of the James Bond series or reverse gradients?

Hello Kitty Bag and Numerous Treats Thanks to Nadine!

I am so incredibly excited about this post because I have been waiting for this Hello Kitty bag for what feels like a very long time! Ever since I saw a friend’s bag from Jump From Paper, I have been dying for one of these cartoon bags! Check out the site (they don’t ship to Canada…) and then check out what Nadine found in Japan and graciously shipped to me! Isn’t it so cute? I am almost afraid to use it because the bag is so flat that I don’t want it to lose its shape! The handle aren’t padded so I really can’t put much in, but I don’t care. This bag is just too awesome!

DSCF4282

Of course Nadine also added some extras for me including sheet masks which I love way too much!

DSCF4263

November 2012 Topbox

I have just realized that it is now December and I have not blogged about the November Topbox! Time has just flown by! Work has gotten so busy that I just come home exhausted. I feel like I’m going to be tired for the next month or so just trying to keep up with Christmas parties and my work schedule. Oh well, that’s what beauty products are for – relaxing! This month’s Topbox was again a little lackluster for me, but there was one product that made this box an overall win for me. Let’s find out what it is! Although at this point, most of you already know what that may be!

B.Kamins Nia-Stem Moisturizer and Serum

DSCF4256

Thoughts: I don’t know if I will really be able to see the beneficial effects of this line given the samples we received, but I have been wanting to try more B. Kamins products so I am happy to receive these as samples. 

Full size: Moisturizer – 50mL/$125 and Serum – 30mL/$135

I received: Moisturizer – 3.25mL/$8.13 and Serum – 3.25mL/$14.63

“Free” Sinnage at the Shoppers Mega Redemption Event!

A lot of us waited all of November for mega redemption day at Shoppers Drug Mart on December 1st and 2nd and I even made a girls day out of it because a friend and I both had very specific things to get on our wish lists! I’ve really enjoyed reading what some of your girls ended up getting so I hope you enjoy my redemption post as much I have enjoyed all of yours!

DSCF4254

November 2012 Empties!

With November favourites come November empties, so let’s get this empties party started shall we?! I wasn’t too good about the full sized products, but I did get through my samples which always gives me a nice boost of “you can do it!”

Bath and Body

DSCF4247

Swatch: Pretty & Polished–Xmas Wreath

Hello all! This is going to be a quick post as for some reason, December has now brought on a sudden onslaught of busyness! I feel almost overwhelmed which is not good! Thank goodness for the calming effects of nail polish…(fumes?) Today I bring to you another one of the Christmas releases from Pretty & Polished called Xmas Wreath!

Xmas Wreath is what I would describe as a light, forest green metallic sheer with silver, red hex and green “shards” of glitter. What I have on is two coats with easy application. The glitter came out very easily, so no fishing was required.

pp_xmaswreath

pp_xmaswreath2

I hate to say this, but this is an incredibly unique holiday polish that I don’t really like…I didn’t find the green to be very flattering on me and I don’t know how I feel about the green shards of glitter. This polish was a lot of fun to wear and did get a few compliments while I was out and about so I’d say for the Christmas novelty of it, it’s definitely worth the buy!

Pretty & Polished now has a new store where you can find Xmas Wreath and other holiday polishes!

Monday Blues Blog Hop

Welcome to the Monday Blues Blog Hop hosted by myself, Traci from Drinkcitra and Christa from ChrissyAi. Big welcome to our two wonderful co-hosts for the week, Elle from Lipstick and Lace and Avelima from Avelima’s Beauty Blog! Thank you to all of you who joined us for the last blog hop! Happy Monday! 
 
BlogHopIntroRules_zps6ceb0f60_thumb6[1]

Join us every Monday and take those blues away! If you are interested in becoming a co-host for the The Monday Blues Blog Hop feel free to email us at mondaybluesbloghop(at)gmail(dot)com

November 2012 Luvs

A year ago I started doing monthly product favourites so when I went into my Dropbox folder to add in my photos for November, I realized that I now had to specify what YEAR of November I was referring to! My, how time flies! I feel like I should have more favourites for the month, but sometimes I forget to write a product down and then *poof* it disappears from my brain. Anyway, here’s what I could remember!

DSCF4256