For the month of July, Birchbox has teamed up with Best Health Magazine to provide a curated selection of only the best in beauty. This “Go for the Gold” Birchbox is all about making sure that you have your “healthiest summer yet”. This is a pretty bold claim so let’s see whether it lived up to my now sky-high beauty box expectations!
BEAUTY BOX | Birchbox x Best Health Collaboration
MAKEUP LOOK | Clarins Aquatic Treasures Summer 2015 Collection Review and Swatches
I know that I could not get away with wearing turquoise or sea green eyeshadow in any season other than summer, but watch me try to pull this off in November! I remember getting a sneak peek of the Aquatic Treasures Summer Collection back in November 2014 when the packaging hadn’t even been completed, but the only thing I remembered was how stunning the eyeshadows were and how much I wanted that turquoise shimmer on ma face! Available as of May, the Aquatic Treasures Collection uses ocean colours to set the tone with a glowing complexion, iridescent eyes and natural lips.
NAILS | Hard Candy “Piece of Papaya” and “Fireworks”
I remember the brand Hard Candy from the pages of Seventeen magazine when I was 13. There was no Google at the time and I assumed it was only available in the US. The nail polish I remember wanting from Hard Candy was with the ones with the fun gummy rings on the cap if anyone remembers those. This seemed like such a “big girl” brand to me, but in actuality the pricing of Hard Candy makeup is incredibly affordable! Nail polishes are $3.99 at my local Wal-Mart and come in a massive variety of finishes and colours. If you are the more nail-venturous type, you will leave with clawfuls of Hard Candy polish!
I am feeling very American with this combination of Hard Candy – Piece of Papaya* and Hard Candy – Fireworks*. Piece of Papaya is a glass-flecked red/gold polish, opaque in 1 thick or 2 thinner coats while Fireworks is red bar and blue hex glitter polish sitting in a red jelly base. I layered the two as Fireworks still showed a little VNL on its own. You will need to glitter-fish a little bit to get some of that blue glitter out.
SKIN | 5 Facial Sunscreens Everyone Should Have!
Either sunscreens seem to be more in fashion this year than last OR I am just extremely aware of different sunscreen options this year. Maybe it’s a bit of both, but everyday I have found myself swimming in a variety of options for both the face and body so because I couldn’t narrow down my favourites into one post, part one will be all about the face and part two will focus on my must-have body sunscreens. I have personally discovered so many lovely brands this year thanks to being a vendor in Sephora and having cast members share their favourites so thank you to all of the West Coast Sephora girls for giving me some lifelong sunscreen favourites!
NAILS | Trind Caring Nail Color in Mighty Macaron and Polka Dots!
This month is all about Trind love and we are starting off the week with a light creme pink polish called Mighty Macaron* which seemed a little streaky on first coat, but evened out by the second. I then added some polka dots in Trind – Calm Purple* and some extra polka-dotted sparkle with Trind – Icing on the Cake*.
MAKEUP | Too Faced The Little Black Book of Bronzers Review with Swatches
When it comes to bronzer monopolies (if there even is one?), bronzers by Too Faced are always first to come to mind. The fact that they even have a Little Black Book of Bronzers* ($60.00 CDN) just goes to show how many gosh darn bronzers Too Faced actually boasts in its collection! The thing with bronzers is that for most of us, the odds of using up a full sized bronzer is rare and yet we want different finishes and shades of shimmer. While a full sized Too Faced bronzer is about $40 for 10g of product, the Little Black Book of Bronzers contain EIGHT of the bestselling bronzers that Too Faced has to offer. Sure, they’re only 2.5g, but how many of you are breathing a sigh of relief that you won’t have to potentially spend $120 to try out all eight? Yes, I know Sephora has a wonderful return policy, but I love having these minis as I don’t use bronzer too often and find these smaller pans much more manageable.
NAILS | Having a Glitter Party with Trind Caring Color Nail Lacquer in Luscious Lavender & Icing on the Cake
When I first started looking at nail blogs, Trind was one of the first nail polish brands that jumped out, but was a bit of a challenge to find. At the time, I don’t recall a Canadian shipping option so I just continued to ogle nail bloggers like Scrangie wear what looked like some pretty awesome colours with equally awesome nail benefits! Today I have on two coats of Luscious Lavender* layered with two coats of Icing on the Cake* on the pointer and pinky nails. For some extra bling, I used some crystal studs from Born Pretty. In addition to how nicely opaque the Trind nail lacquers are, I love that the handle of the brush is longer than most. While this serves to be an issue when trying to store them in my Helmer (*hint* they don’t fit), it actually makes painting of the nails very comfortable as I have more hand support leading to a greater sense of control.
NAILS | Going Summer Bright with Rainbow Honey – Tayabak and Foxglove Foxtrot
Apologies for my quieter social presence, but this is just the beginning as I have started a new job with much longer hours than my old one so I am still trying to figure out a blog schedule. We might see a few less makeup looks over the next few months as well as posts every other day, but this certainly isn’t a “I’m stepping away from blogging” speech! In fact, I think about writing all the time and if anything absence has made the heart grow fonder.
From Rainbow Honey’s Midnight Garden Collection are two polishes that NEEDED to be combined. I believe this collection was released in Spring 2014, but even though I bought the whole collection this is the first time I’m wearing them…not the first time I’ve said that I KNOW. I am delving into this collection beginning with a bright creme green called Tayabak layered with Foxglove Foxtrot which I see as a happy blend of purple and pink circle glitter (my fave!) and multicoloured pink and purple shimmer. It is a pretty awesome glitter topper and is hands-down one of my favourites! You do need to fish for the large circle glitter though, but other than that, this was fine to work with.
BODY | L’Occitane La Collection de Grasse Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc Body Milk and Hand Cream Review
Two years ago, I fell in love with L’Occitane’s La Collection de Grasse especially the scent Jasmin and Bergamot. This past spring, La Collection de Grasse welcomed a new floral fruit scent composed of blue iris from Grasse, France and white iris from the Mediterranean together forming Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc. I feel like this could even be the name of some sort of psychological thriller as even the combination of the two flowers is somewhat unexpected and yet inviting.
I saw the word “iris” and just assumed floral, but there are in fact top notes of blackcurrent and citrus with a heart of iris, ylang ylang and peach followed by a strong base of iris, cedar and white musk. The newest collection consists of: an Eau de Toilette (75mL/$75.00 CDN), Body Milk (250mL/$32.00 CDN), Shower Gel (250mL/$26.00 CDN), Hand Cream (30mL/$12.00 CDN) and a Perfumed Soap (75g/$8.00 CDN). Both iris extracts are cultivated and harvested with a sustainable farming approach which is a practice I have always loved about L’Occitane.
MAKEUP REVIEW | Tie Dye Collection Dior Addict Fluid Sticks in #449 Ciel Rose, #379 Tropiques, #779 Plaisir with Swatches
Ah, Dior Addict Fluid Sticks. This pigmented, long-wearing lip colour has been on my radar since last year as each shade is lovelier than the last. This summer, Dior is adding three new permanent additions to the Fluid Stick line: #449 Ciel Rose* ($35.00 CDN), #379 Tropiques* and #779 Plaisir*. Dior Fluid Sticks boast flawless application in one fell swoop with a water-based formula that leaves lips feeling light, but drenched in long-lasting colour.
NAILS | Celebrating Canada Day/Week with The Face Shop Nail Polishes in RD301 and GLI027
Since I believe birthdays should last all week, mine will go right up until Saturday 11:59pm PST and so will Canada’s! For the last few days I have been sporting a bright red manicure in honour of our nation’s birth and without further ado, here is my first encounter with 4-free Trendy Nails polishes from The Face Shop! Seen here is two shiny as gel coats of the tomato red RD301* with a subtle gradient with GLI027*. I finished off with Dior’s Gel Top Coat to emphasize just how shiny the polishes are! The brushes were also flat and broad making application oh so easy. The glitter was a little hard to get at, especially the chunkier pieces, but that’s sort of a given when it comes to multi-shaped glitter.
SKINCARE | Results from the La Prairie “2 Week Program to Lineless Beauty” ft. the Anti-Aging Rapid Response Booster
At the end May, I embarked on a 2 week journey with the creme de la creme of skincare – La Prairie with a focus on their latest innovation, the Anti-Aging Rapid Response Booster ($335.00 CDN/50mL). At such a luxurious price point, I am expecting luxurious results, but let’s have a look at the rest of the products I was using too because I definitely had my favourites!
MAKEUP LOOK | Partylicious Purple Birthday with Wet n Wild Petal Pusher Coloricon Eyeshadow Palette
It may be Canada Day on July 1st, but it is also my 32nd birthday. After the age of 25, this day seems to come up faster and faster and it wasn’t until last week that I realized how soon the day was closing in! Being Asian, I will probably look the same until I’m about 50 years old, but I feel like the clock is ticking on wearing “fun makeup” so in an effort to have a little fun on this, the day of my birth, my face is teaming up with Wet n Wild to create something worthy of a birthday celebration. There IS glitter involved.