Annabelle Cosmetics | Twist Up Retractable Lipstick Crayon

I love eye shadow and lipstick crayons and I don’t know if any of you were just as obsessed with Annabelle’s Twist Up Challenge (Check out MizzJ) back in October of last year, but I wanted to see every colour in the Annabelle Twist Up line and today I have two beautiful colours to share with you!

This is a retractable lip crayon that you twist up to get more product. They are also paraben-free and promise full coverage colour without tugging at the lips. There are 24 colours in the entire collection ranging from barely-there nudes to dark, vampy purples.

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Swatch It Up | Rainbow Honey - XOXO

Today I have a swatch from the Rainbow Honey Sweet Talk Collection in the aptly named XOXO and is described as “a ravishing blend of glitters and flakes in a clear base for easy use over any manicure!” XOXO is filled with fuchsia hex glitter and micro gold and iridescent glitter all beautifully suspended in the most perfect glitter formula! When you take out your brush, it is just loaded with glittery goodness and my swatches are just one coat. My one coat was on the more generous side, but I guarantee that no one will have any problems getting that glitter out because it applies BEAUTIFULLY. Here are my swatches of XOXO layered over two coats of Essence – Black is Back.

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Nicole by OPI | Roughles Collection for Spring 2014

Texture, texture and more texture! How much more creative can we get with it? Apparently, very creative! Nicole by OPI  has a new textured collection coming our way next month with the yummy pastel colours of Spring in a matte multi-coloured sandy finish!

 

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Sand in My Shoe

 

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I’m Stucco on You (See swatch from Laura at Beyond Blush)

 

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On What Grounds?

 

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Rock the Look

Are you going to be “roughing it” this Spring? I know the textured look is not for everyone, but I love pastels even when they have a sandy finish! Will you be trying out the Roughles Collection next month?

Kiss | Gel Dress Nails with Peel-Off Removal (French Manicure)

I recently tried my hand (I realize how apt that expression sounds in this context) at the Kiss Gel Dress Nails and after having quite a bit of creasing at the tip of my nails using the full nail strips, I vowed to experiment one more time with just the French tips. Just a little bit of info for those of you who may have missed my first review, Gel Dress Nails are currently the only gel nail strips on the market that can be cured with LED/UV light and have peel-off removal. Cool, right?!

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Nail Art | Russian Dolls

Of all of the nail art that’s out there, I think the Sochi Winter Olympics definitely influenced today’s manicure! After perusing for some Russian Doll inspiration, those at Wacky Laki were my favourite so here is my attempt!

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I started off with two coats of Nicole by OPI – That’s Putting it Mild and then first painted the body of the dolls with OPI – Dutch Tulips (index), OPI – No Room for the Blues (middle), Avon Gel Finish– Lavender Sky (ring) and China Glaze – Gaga for Green. I then painted their little bellies with OPI – Love.Angel.Music.Baby and dotted and decorated with a mixture of the same polishes and some acrylic paint. I then finished off with my new favourite top coat, Sally Hansen Triple Shine!

My dolls look a little emo…but I think it’s because they know it’s Monday…

October 26, 2013 | Jayne Gets Married!

This should have been up a LONG time ago, but I wasn’t quite ready to sit down and write about the wedding yet. I was not the typical bride in that I was more than happy to stay at the “engaged” part and call it a day. There is something appealing about being “man and wife” though and I really wanted my “white guy last name”!

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We got engaged on March 14th, 2012 when I was proposed to with an Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat. I disguised the proposal in a review with a picture of the ring at the very end. The comments on that post involved lots of squealing! We (I) didn’t start planning the wedding until August 28th, 2013. We (I) put it all together in 7 weeks!

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Empties | January 2014

I feel like I tried so hard to finish products last month, but without my regimented Sample Sundays, I haven’t been quite as organized in my sample consumption. I did manage to finish a few full sized items though which is always a plus!

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Sweet and Simple Nails

I have one more tutorial for everyone at The Prom Show using Nicole by OPI – Sweet Daisy from the new Carrie Underwood collection. I didn’t think this collection would really be for me as I tend to gravitate more towards less neutral colours, but salmon pink has really grown on me!

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Have a great weekend everyone! I think I’ll be spending mine at IKEA…just pray that I come out alive…

Spring 2014 from Make Up For Ever | Arty Blossom Palette

I am so ready for Spring right now. No more cold weather is fine by me and when I see feminine floral palettes like the newest Arty Blossom from Make Up For Ever, I know that Spring is right around the corner! Now, the last palette that I reviewed, the Midnight Glow Palette, received a not so stellar review from me so I’m hoping you gals out in Montreal and Toronto will let me know how the quality fares on Arty Blossom as this palette has limited availability in only Make Up For Ever boutiques in these cities.

Arty Blossom includes 8 fresh colors for spring including limited edition shades Gold Plum, Gold Beige, Fresh Peach, Fresh Pink, Gold Green, Pearly White and existing shades #122 Metallic Copper and #150 Pearly Turquoise. This palette includes an array shades that can be worn together or alone for endless color options to compliment any style. The customized mirrored compact also includes a mini Shader Brush #226 and mini Precision Crease Brush #214 for easy eye shadow application on the go.

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Arty Blossom can be found at Make Up For Ever boutiques in Montreal and Toronto starting this month for $48.00 CDN. Will you be adding this palette to your collection?

Rose Wholesale | Site and Product Review

We all love a good deal, right? I don’t talk about fashion and accessories a lot, but like a lot of women I have the overflowing closet of clothes for every season and shoes to clothe a nation. I do my best to donate items every season as there are some pieces I have that are just trendy and either don’t hold up in the wash or just aren’t fashionable anymore. I will spend a good chunk of change on “forever pieces” like a leather jacket, some good boots or a classic little black dress, but we know the mark up on clothing is THROUGH THE ROOF so when it comes to those trendy little items, I’m unwilling to spend a crazy amount of money on them as they will probably be in the “to donate” pile after a year.

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#BusyGirlNails | Week 5–”Valentine’s Day Hearts and Dots”

These are a day late, but I swear I had these on my nails yesterday! This manicure didn’t come out quite as neatly as I had wanted them to, but creating hearts with a dotting tool can be hit or miss for me at times. I used only Avon Gel Finish 7 in 1 polishes for the entire manicure and they are now officially my new favourite polish obsession! I started with two coats of Barely There, which is a gorgeous creamy opaque nude, followed by hearts and dots in both Parfait Pink and Roses are Red.

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I did not use a base or top coat as these polishes are supposed to incorporate both, but I did apply a top coat a full 24 hours afterwards and I STILL got smearing! I used the new Nicole by OPI – Quick Dry Top Coat which I have really been loving for its dry time and shine, but I just couldn’t believe that my manicure still smeared after a full day!

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And that brings us to the end of the #BusyGirlNails challenge! I’m sure there will be more challenges to come, but thank you for reading these past 5 weeks! I hope you all have a lovely weekend and long weekend for those of you celebrating Family Day!

Petit Vour | December 2013 “Winter Wonders”

I received December’s Petit Vour box in the midst of my move so I literally did my “oohs” and “aahs” and had to put the box away in my “beauty corner” to focus on the rest of the apartment. Now, I’m able to really look at all of my beauty boxes and enjoy what’s in them! 

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Ipsy | November 2013 “Glam It Up”

Catch up, catch up! I actually really liked this Ipsy Bag so I won’t say much more and just snap to it!

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Shoppers Drug Mart | February “Spend Your Points Event”!

This past weekend was another Shoppers Drug Mart event where redeeming 80000 points got you $200 dollars of product ($64 more than what you would normally get!) just in the beauty department which is a WONDERFUL dollar amount to work with ;-) It’s really quite the haul!

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Urban Decay | Naked 3, Naked Lip Gloss in Rule 34 and Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Sin

What better time than to complete my Naked collection with Naked 3 as well as a lipgloss from their Naked line! I love the colour Sin from Naked 1 so when I saw that there was primer potion in this exact colour that I could use alone or in conjunction with another colour I grabbed it right away! I am SUPER excited about all three of these items!  

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Guerlain | Eye Liner in Bleu Outremer

This is a navy blue liquid liner with one of the thinnest little brushes I have seen. The packaging reminds me of a quill and inkwell and yes, it was $42 for 5mL…but that’s what redemption time is all about! You’ve already spent the money to get the points so why not splurge?

Maybelline | Color Elixirs in Nude Illusion, Blush Essence and Dashing Orchid

Buying these also gave bonus points which was an added bonus, but these are my first color Elixirs and so far they feel and look pretty nice. I chose two lighter colours which aren’t quite as pigmented as the darker ones out there so I might grab one more in a really bright red later on.

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Maybelline | Color Show Street Art Collection in Wild at Heart

I don’t have a matte black and red glitter. That was my only reasoning.

SensatioNAIL | Gel Color in Rock my Emerald and Scarlet Red

I managed to find two more colours in the clearance section for $0.99 each! These are normally around $17 each at Shoppers so getting them at this price is a fantastic deal!

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L’Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray in Strong Hold

I have heard way too many good things from so many bloggers/vloggers about this hairspray so into my basket it went!

This should be MORE than enough to hold me over for awhile as I am starting to struggle with where to put everything! I foresee another MUJI order in my future…

Kiss | Gel Dress Nails with Peel-Off Removal

I was raving about the latest from Kiss a few weeks ago on Instagram when I was given the opportunity to try out the Gel Dress Nails with peel-off removal! That’s right. You heard me. PEEL-OFF REMOVAL. I have not had a chance to try gel polish yet as I dread the removal process at home even though I know all I need is a good acetone bath.

Gel Dress Nails are the only gel strips currently on the market with instant peel-off removal. They can last up to 2 weeks when used in conjunction with the Kiss Double Up Top Gel and cured with an LED lamp. 

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All About Cuticle Oil!

I use cuticle oil RELIGIOUSLY especially now that the air has gotten so dry. There are quite a number of different cuticle oils out there so I thought I’d share with everyone my top 5 favourites and why I love them so!

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I have the complete 411 over at The Prom Show so head on over and check it out!

#BusyGirlNails | Week 4–”Blue is for Cookie”

I felt like going back to my trusty old paint brushes for this week’s #busygirlnails and decided to finally try my hand at some Cookie Monster nails! There are some incredibly amazing versions of this manicure out there, but since I’m not that great at drawing, I stuck with just the top half of Cookie Monster and some chocolate chip cookies.

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For my ring finger, I started off with a base colour of OPI-My Boyfriend Scales Walls and used acrylic paint for Cookie Monster. For my other nails, I used a base colour of China Glaze-Kinetic Candy and Essie-Brooch the Subject and Julep-Olivia to create the chocolate chip cookies.

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I also could not forget the sound Cookie Monster makes when he’s enjoying his “habit” so “NOM NOM” had to go on my thumb! Next week is already the last week of the #busygirlnails challenge and the theme is “Valentine’s Day” so let’s see what mushy pink and red design I come up with ;-)

Swatch It Up | Rainbow Honey Ephemeral with the the Unreleased Papillon!

I am a Rainbow Honey polish junkie. I have almost every polish created and don’t plan on stopping! My favourites so far have got be: The Kraken and Lumine Hall! And there are so many more beautifully, heart-stopping, reach into your wallet colours to choose from! Today I have Ephemeral and Papillon (soon to be released in March 2014!) to share with you! Ephemeral is a frosty, light pink with a blue and purple shimmer. I don’t normally like frosty polishes, but the iridescent shimmer adds so much more depth to this polish that I fell in love within the first few coats. I then layered it with two coats of Papillon which, if you remember you French, means “butterfly”! Hence, the pink butterfly-shaped glitter distributed throughout!

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Goodbye to Dry Skin with Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula!

I don’t know about you guys, but my skin has been SO THIRSTY this winter that I am constantly looking for the thickest, most hydrating moisturizers I can get my hands on! I’ve even been using exfoliators with shea butter in them in combination with body butters that pretty much resemble lard for that extra boost of hydration! Thank goodness for what I’ve been calling the “Palmer’s Triad” in my house!

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#BusyGirlNails | Week 3–Glitter Half Moons

This week of #busygirlnails is GLITTER! Muahaha, where do I begin? I went back and forth over what to do – from a straight glitter bomb to some form of “art”. I was honestly torn, but eventually decided on doing some nude/glitter half moons. For my glitter I used two coats of the AMAZINGLY SPARKLY Formula X for Sephora – Freaky Like Freud followed by two coats of Butter London – Crumpet. Freakly Like Freud was quite gritty and I could have filed off the excess glittery bits that hung off the edge of my nail.

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Stay tuned next week for “Blue” – my favourite colour!!!