NAILS | Formula X #ColorCurators Atlantic Pacific Edition with Tiny French Tips

This has to be one of my favourite Fall polish releases! I tend to hate Fall for nail polish shades because I cannot stand vampy colours. I know that burgundy, grey, dark green and almost black LOOK incredibly chic, but they just don't make me feel happy. Where is the holo? The glitter? The shimmer?! Formula X's September ColorCurator Collection is by Blair Eadie, fashion blogger of Atlantic Pacific and while she has one shade that is dark and vampy, the other two feel more like spring which made me breathe a sigh of relief!  

KOREAN BEAUTY | Amorepacific Treatment Cleansing Oil Face & Eyes

Back in July, I shared on Instagram that I was about to embark on a skincare journey with Amorepacific and Sulwhasoo. As some of you know, Amorepacific and Sulwhasoo are under the AmorePacific Corporation umbrella and are a beauty powerhouse in South Korea with brands like Etude House, Laneige and Aritaum also being part of the family. Amorepacific and Sulwhasoo are on the upper end of the brand spectrum in terms of pricing and though I have had quite a bit of experience with entry level brands like Laneige and Etude House, I had yet to experience luxury Korean skincare. I thought about doing one first impressions review on everything I was using, but I think it'll be more useful to have in-depth reviews for each item since I personally would phase in products at this price point into my routine one at a time instead of five at once. I mean, that's a lot of money to throw out there in one go and people rarely change their skincare routine that drastically.

MAKEUP | Burt's Bees Lipsticks in Fuchsia Flood, Brimming Berry and Scarlet Soaked with Lip Swatches

Looking back last week, I realized that I never did any makeup posts. Granted, I was struggling through yawns to write what I managed, but never realized that last week was a little heavy on the skincare. I'm still feeling a bit blurry whether it'd be from work or general fatigue that a part of me wonders if I am coming down with something. I mean, it's gloriously sunny outside on my (weekend) and all I want to do is curl up with my kitties and sleep.

For the sake of keeping things cozy, let's talk about a brand that I feel is cozy and warm - Burt's Bees. I always feel like I have something good on my skin when it's Burt's Bees. I am an almost religious follower of Burt's Bees Peppermint Lip Balm having used it for more than 10 years now so when, in April of this year, Burt's Bees announced that actual lipsticks were being added, I wasn't completely sold on whether I would love them as much as the lip balms. I had set the bar so high in my mind. 

EXPERIENCE | AVEDA Session #7 Even More Blonde!"

I am an Aveda Vancouver Ambassador. All treatments are complimentary.

My last appointment with Aveda was early this summer where I asked to go a little more blonde. As much as I enjoyed the darker hair, summer was all about being glowy and going a little bit more blonde was something I was craving. I also thought I would share my last experience with you because next month I will be a different colour...multiple perhaps...you only live once, right?

NAILS | (YELLOW) DAY 3 OF THE 31DC2016 WITH Wavy Taping #ManiMonday

Geez, I am cutting it close with my Mani Monday post again though I did manage to edit one photo for IG this morning and share it with ya'll. Today was my Friday and worked a bit of a long weekend as Saturday was quite the night with my smoke alarm choosing to DIE at 2am. Of course, smoke alarm death = loud beeping. We didn't know how to disconnect it since it was hard-wired into our building and finally at 4am, the building manager came to disable it. I had to be up at 6am for work so that 2 hours of sleep felt like nothing. I actually packed a blanket that morning instead of a lunch because I knew I was going to be using my break to sleep in the basement of the building! I have not slept on the floor of ANYTHING since I was a teenager, but that's pretty much what I did and it was amazing.

The nap was a good idea as it gave me the strength to get these nails done! I wanted to do this colour combination back in August, but then I decided to save it for the nail challenge to maximize both my time and manicures. 

SKINCARE | Racinne Ultimate Youth Power Eye Serum Review and Giveaway!

I know it seems like I have been using random skincare all at once with my last skincare review being just a few days ago, but believe me when I say that since June I have been reviewing a total of four different skincare lines. I have given about a month to each which is adequate enough for a review (depending on the type of skincare product) though I would ideally like two months with one brand if I can. I have been steadily declining more recent skincare reviews as my face is fully booked until the end of the year, but one brand that made my cut-off date was a brand rooted in Korean skincare science and that was Racinne.   

SKINCARE | Ecocertified and Canadian with Zorah Biocosmetiques!

My mother-in-law is a big fan of natural products. She may not be quite as religious about skincare as I am, but I always like her recommendations because she is a more educated consumer and is particular about ingredients. She also MAILS me newspaper articles about skincare products. It's really quite cute because she used to do it with my husband all the time and when I received my first newspaper clipping I knew that I was truly part of the family (it was all about Korean skincare)!

For those who are unaware, my husband and in-laws are from Montreal so it is probably the one Canadian city that I make a point of visiting about every year or two. After visiting Montreal in the dead of winter twice in a row, last year I decided to visit in August in the heat and humidity. My birthday was also the month before, so my MIL held on to my gift until our visit which turned out to be my introduction to Quebec and 100% plant-based brand Zorah biocosmetiques. She knew that I loved green beauty and so got me the Maeva Body Cream which I ended up really enjoying!  

NAILS | #BCDNails CHALLENGE WEEK 18 "Plant Cell Puzzle Nails"! #MANIMONDAY

Apologies for not having this up earlier today, but these nails took a wee bit longer than I had anticipated last night and it was just too late to type up the post! I have now taken on two nail challenges though I am not intense enough to have a different set of nails every day! For Week 18 of the #BCDNails Challenge, the theme was "Border Nails". I was about to do a traditional set of border nails with a solid colour outlined with black when suddenly inspiration hit me. Aren't all cells "bordered" by a cell membrane? Thus, inspiring these "plant cell nails"! I had no idea how these were going to turn out as I have NEVER seen these done before, but I am very pleased! 

FRAGRANCE | Demeter Foolproof Blending Kit #CBBCustomBlend

Earlier this year, Demeter and the CBB got together to make us all master perfumers (here) with the Demeter Foolproof Blending Kits ($45.00 USD). We all had so much fun that we have partnered up again for each of us to create our own custom scents from blending to designing our own bottle label (Yes, there may have been craft time involved!).

What I have always loved about Demeter's scents when I first started using them as a teenager was how EASY it was to wear just about ANY scent. From Birthday Cake to Dirt, it all seemed to work and was never too much or worse, too artificial. If anything, Demeter always had this uncanny ability to replicate every dimension of even the most uncapturable fragrances. When it came to choose my scents for this experiment in parfumerie, I decided to go with two scents that I love in real life: "Wet Garden"* and "Salt Air"* and one where I had no idea what to expect - "Gin & Tonic"*. There are duo and trio blending kits available should you want a little bit of direction instead of trying to decide from Demeter's extensive 300+ fragrance library!

NAILS | (ORANGE) Day 2 of the 31DC2016 with Amoeba Nail Art

Orange is a tough colour to pull off as a whole manicure even though I love the vibrancy of it. Even though I don't often wear orange manicures in full, I took Day 2 of the 31 Day Nail Challenge to bring out my orange brights! I had a great time doing the blobbicure from June (here) and thought I would try again with orange and blue which are complementary colours! The blobs started looking like amoebas partway through so one became giant enough to be a buddy of mine ;-)

MAKEUP | Dior Diorskin Nude Air Glow Powder in 001 Fresh Tan

It has been gloomy all day this weekend in Vancouver and it makes me a little sad that Fall seems to have come almost overnight once the last day of August wrapped up. We had this glorious heat wave while I was on my staycation two weeks ago and I am glad I had the time to enjoy it. I was going through my photos for summer reviews and came across this shot of the Diorskin Nude Air Glow Powder in #001 Fresh Tan* ($68.00 CDN) that I took for fun in direct sunlight. This baby BELONGS in sunlight! 

MAKEUP | Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Lipstick Swatches

Urban Decay has been doing some serious releases this year and with the opening of a standalone store in Vancouver this Saturday, I am happily realizing how much I have always loved the brand and its products. I remember seeing the Urban Decay nail polishes in the pages of Seventeen Magazine almost 20 years ago and hoping that one day I would be able to own just one thing from Urban Decay. Fast forward to becoming an adult and now having my own "inventory" of Urban Decay must-haves. This is when "adulting" is awesome. While their eyeshadows were always and always will be my favourite product, the new Vice lipsticks (review soon), as well as these limited edition Alice Through the Looking Glass Lipsticks* ($21.00 CDN) of the same formula, are quickly moving up my makeup hierarchy!

NAILS | (RED) Day 1 31DC with Resveratrol Molecular Nails #ManiMonday

It has been a loooong time since I have done anything remotely molecular for nail art AND I also forgot that September always signals the start of the infamous 31 Day Nail Art Challenge! I did the challenge in 2012 and 2013 until the bitter end with my girls Traci and Naomi, as well as Masha the following year, but 2015 just did not happen. It didn't even cross my mind and though I'm still behind on the BCD Nail Art Challenge, I just love having inspiration for what to create next. I won't make any promises, but I will do my best to keep up!

Resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes. Red wine contains a higher concentration of resveratrol than white wine because red wine is fermented WITH the skins still intact. There have been quite a number of studies demonstrating the effects of resveratrol ranging from neurological to physical to psychological effects in animals. Resveratrol nail art was on my bucket list and though I am SUPER annoyed that my top coat made my wine glass nail pink, I am fairly happy with how they turned out.

MAKEUP LOOK | Urban Decay Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette with Swatches

As many of you know, Urban Decay is about to open a standalone store in Metrotown mall in Burnaby on Sept. 10th so I decided to do a little countdown in the form of as many Urban Decay posts until the opening! I am starting off with the Alice Through the Looking Glass Eyeshadow Palette*($75.00 CDN) which had my heart going pitterpatter as Alice in Wonderland was one of the first VHS (yes VHS!) movies my parents purchased when we moved to Canada. I watched it almost every afternoon after school and the ethereal dreaminess of Wonderland had me captivated each time. For those of us who purchased the original Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows, this palette will be extra special!

Korean Beauty | Laneige Water Sleeping Mask

Skincare can feel like a lot of work sometimes and I understand why people would want to keep it simple. I have grown to love my 8-9 step skincare routine as it has not only become an essential part of skin upkeep, but a way for me to relax as I am ridiculously high strung and was recently told my by HR to basically "chill the F out" (very nicely of course!). Sleeping packs or sleeping masks are a bit of treat for the skin as they are usually thicker and absorb much more slowly than regular moisturizers. They are more well-known in Asian skincare and I am glad to see this type of product hitting the North American market.

Skin heals and renews itself at night which is where the idea of the sleeping mask was born. During the day, our skin goes through quite a bit of environmental stress which is evident when you look at your skin at the end of a long day! The Laneige Water Sleeping Mask* is an intensive moisturizing mask that promises to revitalize skin the next morning as if skin has had a "restful sleep". It also contains a few skin technologies like "Sleep-Tox" which makes skin appear rested and radiant and Sleepscent which is meant to relax the mind upon smelling. I don't know about the Sleep Tox, but the scent of this mask was certainly comforting.    

NAILS | Chanel #536 Emeraude with Bonus Nail Art

There really isn't too much I can say about a Chanel polish so I will let the photos speak for themselves! Emeraude is one of five polishes released as part of Chanel's Summer 2016 collection and was the ONE that I really had to have. Though the shimmer is subtle, the colour reminded me of a jewel glinting in the sun.