About 10-15 years ago when I was *gasp* a teenager, I remember seeing Demeter products at London Drugs and being fascinated by how accurately this company was able to capture the oddest and most unusual scents. I had all but forgotten about this company until a Cherry Blossom Roll-On by Demeter made its way into our December BB5 and I started perusing their website. Huge freakin’ mistake! In a good way of course ;-)Each scent can be purchased in all different sizes with the cheapest being the 0.5oz bottle at $6.00 and the 0.29oz roll-on perfume oil at $10.00. You can also get each scent in the form of body oils, lotions, room sprays and diffuser oils.
Review and Swatches of The Balm Balmbini Palette Vol.2
With their smokin’ hot pinup girls and more recently, debonair Matt, theBalm has got to have some of the cutest, most entertainingly packaged products I have ever seen! Their palettes should make their way into every girl’s makeup collection as I find that it is almost like owning a piece of art.
I have to be honest, I got this palette in July of 2012 and have had these pictures sitting on Dropbox since then, but that’s not to say that this isn’t a fantastic palette. I originally had wanted Volume 1, but was sold of out them at the time so Volume 2 it was!
February 2013 Ipsy Bag
With the Oscars being in February, this month’s Ipsy Bag was all about being red carpet ready with smoky eyes and makeup that will last even through the Oscars!
Television Nails in Honour of the Oscars
I have been dying to do television nails since last year when Zooey Deschanel debuted hers. Since tonight is the Oscars, I decided today would be a good day to try. I followed the tutorial from Pack a Punch Polish and success!
To begin, I used two coats of Sally Hansen XTremeWear – Fuchsia Power and then drew an outline of a television in black acrylic paint. For the screen, I used China Glaze – Champagne Bubbles. I dotted on the little knobs on the side, drew on the feet and antennae and I was done!
Nail Care 101
I have had a few people ask me how I take care of my nails and cuticles so even though I have been blessed with very low maintenance hands, I thought I would share what makes my nails photo-ready!
Crazy Awesome Swap with Sian from the UK
This post is long overdue as I did not want to post until EVERYTHING from Sian had shown up at my door. The second half of this swap had some customs issues so even though this was supposed to be a swap for Christmas, I did not receive the second package until the beginning of February! Crazy, eh? It was well worth the wait as there were so many wonderful British goodies in both packages and Sian took the trouble to find things that I was really lusting after. She is a fantastic swap partner and we have another one planned for next month!
Swatch It Up: NOPI–Sweet Dreams and Pandora Polish-Floral Passion
This post features a polish I have been wanting to wear for awhile from Pandora’s Makeup Box called Floral Passion. It came as part of a duo with a complementary perfume and is described as “rich purple with two coat coverage”. The two coat coverage is most certainly true and applied opaquely and evenly while I would add more to the colour description by saying this purple leans more on the greyish side especially in real-life.
February 2013 “Regular” Topbox
At first I was pretty bummed that I didn’t get the Benefit Prive Topbox, but then I realized that the items that were offered I already had in full sizes or had tried before so it only seemed fair to let another lucky girl “benefit” from having that special Prive box. Like what I did there? Hehe. Instead, I received the regular Topbox which I absolutely loved! The goodies inside were right up my alley so I am nothing but smiles for the regular Joe February Topbox.
Swatch It Up: Deborah Lippmann-Mermaid’s Dream
Ideas for nail art have been eluding me as of late and I have had to cut my nails down to what I feel are nubbins, but are so much more manageable! I have even manage to scratch off the letter “N” on my keyboard from typing the word “nail” so much!
Today I thought I’d wear a polish that I picked up when I got promoted and that was Deborah Lippmann’s Mermaid’s Dream. What I have on is three coats with OTD as my top coat. I love how this colour just glows! I have yet to see another polish like this with the same colour combination and look of texture.
Enough Already with Shoppers Drug Mart!
As promised, this is the second half of my Shoppers Drug Mart shopping spree and during this event, if you spent $75 or more on anything in the store you received 18 500 points. I bought food as well, but I will just show you guys just the fun stuff! Unless soup and juice is fun for you…then I can edit the post and show you that too!
Shoppers Redemption Event/Where I Spent Family Day
Last weekend was a long weekend for those of us in BC as our Family Day was on Feb.11th. Instead of spending that day with family, I spent it with a beloved girlfriend at Shoppers redeeming $200 worth of product! And I guess the girls at the Beauty Boutique are kind of like family…shall we see what I got?
January 2013 Beauty Box 5
January’s BB5 contained a surprise favourite that differed from box to box so I was quite excited to find out what I would receive. There were some great products in this month’s box so BB5 continues to impress!
Swatch It Up: OPI–Pink Yet Lavender
Today, I would like to introduce you to someone…my RIGHT HAND! Yes, this is what she looks like and was very hard to grab a picture of as she is normally quite shy ;)
From the new OPI Mariah Carey collection, this is Pink Yet Lavender and was an unexpected purchase while paying for my pedicure at the checkout. They shouldn’t place nail polish there! This a pink hex glitter with holographic glitter in it. I have layered two coats of it over Venique – Wingtip White so you can see the glitter more clearly.
How are you liking the Mariah Carey collection?
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Tic Tac Love
I apologize for the messiness and terrible lighting of this Valentine’s manicure, but from far away the nails look much better! I have been wanting to do these nails for about a year, but just never really got around to it. There are so many nail art ideas to try that I have no idea how I’m ever going to be able to try everything in my lifetime.
To start off, I used three coats of NOPI – It’s All About the Glam and then used a black striper for the lines. The hearts were made using a dotting tool and with Sally Hansen XtremeWear – Bubblegum Pink and Cult Nails – Evil Queen.
Review-Maybelline Colorsensational Vivids
I just decided to try the Maybelline COLORsensational Vivids only two nights ago and I love them so much that I had to write about these lipsticks now! When I think of companies that carry brightly pigmented lipsticks, I generally think of MAC Cosmetics and Limecrime. The brightest lip colours I own are all lip glosses from Limecrime or MUFE so branching out into brightly pigmented lipsticks is a very bold step for me as I always feel like all eyes are on me whenever I wear something bright. I am so glad these wonderfully affordable beauties have made their way into the lipstick world!
Now bright goes gorgeous, never garish, in 8 super saturated lip shades.
Brighter color from our exclusive vivid pigments.
Creamier feel from nourishing honey nectar.
Out of the eight colours offered in the COLORsensational Vivids collection, I picked up the three that I felt most comfortable wearing on a regular basis: 865 Fuchsia Flash, 870 Shocking Coral and 875 Vivid Rose.
Sunday Night Nail Art with the Girls!
The man was away on a trip this long weekend so what better time to get up to some time with the girls and of course, some nail art! I had two friends over last night and my first friend really liked the design I had done for the Julep Beauty Resolution Campaign so I just had my fingers crossed that I could re-create the design on someone else! Luckily, it turned out nicely! I almost wanted the same colours on my nails!
For the base color, we chose Color Club-Mrs.Robinson (3 coats for opacity) and for the dots an unknown dark purple also from Color Club. I finished the dotticure off with some more dots using GOSH– Holographic Hero. Now here come the beauty shots!
January 2013 Glossybox
This month’s Glossybox theme is all about staying moisturized which I am all for in the winter months. Although this month didn’t have any WOW items, again most are items that I would use regularly. Was this box worth $21 though?
Julep New Year’s Mystery Box
I had heard that a lot of Canadian gals received their Julep New Year’s Mystery Box VERY late and mine just arrived last week! I was starting to think it truly was going to be a mystery for all of eternity! I was pretty satisfied with what I received even though it wasn’t all that exciting. I was just grateful that I didn’t receive any duplicate polishes.
1. Brandt - Trina Turk Fall '12 opaque off-black crème
2. Limited Edition Mystery Glitter!
3. Sandra – Pink magenta frost
4. Gwyneth - Sheerest pink clear
5. Melissa - Sheer opalescent shimmer
6. Matte Top Coat
7. The Best Pedi Creme Ever!
8. Glycolic Hand Scrub Sample
9. Two Polish Remover Pads
Not bad, eh? Anyone else receive their New Year’s Mystery Box incredibly late?
L’Occitane Goodies and the New L’Occitane Shea Honey Collection
I had a $15 off coupon from L’Occitane VIP Night in November AND it was Gift with Purchase time with any purchase of $70 or more AND there’s a new collection in town so three amazing reasons to go shopping!
For those of you who love the Shea Butter collection, the arrival of the new Shea Honey Collection is going to make your skin and nose say thank you! There are four new additions to the Shea Butter collection and I have to admit that because of the cartoon packaging, I thought it was a collection for babies!
Shea Butter Honey Lip Balm
Shea Honey Whipped Body Cream
Julep Beauty Resolution Campaign: Playing with Trina and Alma
Last month I was invited to be a part of Julep’s Beauty Resolution campaign and the first assignment of the year was to play with colours that were complimentary to each other. The idea is that when placed next to each other, complimentary colours will appear to be brighter. The complimentary colours I was sent to play with were Trina, a deep aubergine shimmer, and Alma, a dijon mustard yellow crème, from the Trina Turk Fall 2012 collection.
Both Trina and Alma applied opaquely in two coats and look surprisingly good together! I guess the colour wheel works!
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January 2013 Luvs
January was all about comfort for me so I didn’t branch out too much especially when it came to trying new makeup products. I basically stuck to what worked or rediscovered old treasures.
January 2013 Topbox Clinique Prive Box
We’ve all seen what the January Prive Box has to offer, but the consistent beauty box lover in me just HAS to make a post anyway! I didn’t know how to feel about the Prive Box because I didn’t think Topbox needed to change anything other than go back to the way they used to be before the lackluster products started making their way into our boxes back in the Fall, but if Prive means going back to deluxe sample sizes I fully support it!
Unfortunately, the products in the Clinique Prive Box were not that exciting for me as I’ve grown up with Clinique Bonus Time and I have tried all of these products at one point or another. It’s interesting how many other girls mentioned that Clinique made them nostalgic because I have the same feelings about Clinique as well! I suppose it is sort of an entry into department store makeup that doesn’t have insane price points. The products are fairly affordable even when I was a poor student. Doing this review, definitely took me down memory lane :-)
January 2013 Empties
I will be so glad to get rid of these! Some of the things I’ve managed to finish in January have been haunting me for years!