MAKEUP | Shu Uemura Murakami Holiday Collection Rouge Unlimited Review and Swatches

There honestly hasn't been a Shu Uemura collection I haven't liked, but it seems like each year, it just gets cuter and cuter. I love all things Japanese (anyone else listen to Kinki Kids, Speed and Glay in the 90s?), but Shu Uemura always manages to balance the "kawaii" so perfectly with luxury. This holiday season Shu Uemura has partnered with celebrated contemporary artist Takashi Murakami and his iconic Flowers. The inspiration for this collection comes from the wonderment of the night sky during the holiday season and how the cosmos would exist in daily life. This collection may look like a trippy set of hippie flowers, but there is actual philosophical depth! Shu Uemura turns the stars of the galaxy into blooming flowers of hope in celebration of cosmic beauty.

NAILS | Holographic Icicles with A-England Angel Grace #ManiMonday

I had hoped it would have been even just a little sunny this weekend for me to photograph A-England's Angel Grace*, but alas the day I had some time was probably one of the rainiest most dreary days I had seen in awhile so as much as I hate flash, t'is the only way to see the rainbow of a scattered holographic polish!

AT HOME | Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash and Geranium Leaf Body Scrub

Back in the Spring of this year, Aesop and Nordstrom had a fun little pop-up shop that I had the pleasure of visiting (here) as well as the opportunity to try out a couple of products. I also picked up a few things at the pop-up which I will also be sharing probably not until early next year since I still have some crazy skin research to do! Seeing as how it's Sunday and rainy here in Vancouver, I just want to take it easy before the surge of holiday energy REALLY begins. We just started playing our Christmas music at work (we kept changing the channel until this past Thursday) and holiday dinners are already getting planned. This week will already be December which is ridiculous! I can already feel the twitching of craziness in my brain which is why I try to include as much aromatherapy in my life from now until the end of the year. 

MAKEUP | Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks Review with Lip Swatches

I feel like every company revamped their lipsticks this year and when Urban Decay decided to relaunch their lipsticks in 100 shades and 5 different finishes, I thought "Holy hell, what temptation has come upon us now?!" I was fortunate enough to receive 10 shades which have now grown to 15 with some from events and some from my own doing and all I can say is that I cannot stop talking about the awesomeness of these Vice Lipsticks ($21.00 CDN)!

HEALTH | My First Time Oil Pulling with Kismet Essentials Coco Rinse

If you had asked me to try coconut oil-pulling a couple of years ago, I probably would have had some sort of snarky, hippie-hating response, but after giving a coconut oil a try in cooking, as a moisturizer and even a healthy treat for my kitty, I felt ready to give oil-pulling or swishing a try. Though I love the smell of coconut oil, there is something about just putting it in my mouth that I couldn't quite adjust to as my favourite part about toothpaste is that refreshing minty taste. I once bought BACON dental floss and let's just say I never bought it again! 

EXPERIENCE | Getting my Eyebrows Microbladed with The Brow Revolution!

Microblading procedure was complimentary in exchange for my honest review. 

Two weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to get eyebrow microblading done with Anna at The Brow Revolution. I knew Anna from my previous life in the beauty biz and after seeing her work, especially with Asian brows, I knew I was going to be in good hands. When I shared on my social media channels that I was getting microbladed, the reaction I received was one of curiosity and wonderment. Some people expressed how fearful they were for me, some had always been curious about the procedure and others who had had the procedure done, SWORE that it was THE BEST thing they had ever done. I have to say, I'm inclined to agree with them!

NAILS | Pink, Grey and Studded with Duri Cosmetics #ManiMonday

I am beyond excited to be sharing my very first Duri polishes here! When I first started doing my nails, I never planned on blogging or sharing my hobby with anyone other than my husband and cats. I used to read mainly nail polish blogs and would come across all sorts of exotic sounding brands that I could never seem to find locally or at a reasonable price online. I remember seeing one nail blogger using Duri polishes along with their most well-known product, Rejuvacote, a nail treatment that preserves the life of your mani in addition to stimulating nail growth and fortifying nail strength. After seeing swatch after swatch of these gorgeous polishes, I knew that one day, they would be mine! 

MAKEUP LOOK | Temporarily Dark Eyebrows and NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in "Oh, Put It On"

I got a bit antsy during my eyebrow microblading recovery time and on Day 5 decided to embrace my temporarily darker brows and experiment with some deliciously DARK lip colours. My eyebrows have lightened up and healed now so you will be hearing all about my last two weeks this weekend!

Non-traditional lip colours are THE thing right now and when NYX decided to release a boatload of shades that are normally on your eyelids or in a box of crayons, I was both excited at the prospect of trying something outside my comfort zone and terrified that I wouldn't have the confidence to pull it off. I still float towards the latter when I'm not at home, but this little experiment was a ton of fun to try! Plus, I matched my nails!   

NAILS | (GREEN) Day 4 of the 31DC2016 with CND Vinylux Emerald Lights

I've decided to try and keep up with all those crazy nail art challenges I took on until December where I will go FULL CHRISTMAS with my nail art. Will there be Stormtroopers again as the next Star Wars installment comes out? Hmmm! I'll resume the challenges in 2017 as I always like to have inspiration on what to create next. I mean, if it weren't for the theme "Border" for the BCD Challenge, I never would have come up with those plant cell nails, which I think are my favourite for this year! Today's inspiration is "Green" and how perfect is it that I just got CND Vinylux - Emerald Lights* from this year's holiday collection! 

HOLIDAY | Mary Kay Limited Edition Be Delighted Collection and Satin Hands Pampering Gift Sets

Let the holiday season begin! I always find blogging at this time of year a bit of a challenge because I am never sure if I can insert "normal" stuff amongst all of the holiday gift sets, limited editions and gift ideas. I mean, it can't ALL be holiday for the next two months right? While I am pondering this, I have been trying out some sweetly-scented goodies from the new and limited edition Mary Kay Be Delighted Collection with notes of Fuji apple, raspberry chiffon and tonka bean. If you like sweet scents, this will be your anthem until the end of 2016!

HAIR | Kerastase L'Incroyable Blowdry Miracle Reshapable Heat Lotion Review

I heat style my hair every couple of days as I prefer to wear my hair in curls ever since learning how to create them with a flat iron. Dark hair and a blonde balayage are constantly at odds to turn brassy so for the last 2 years I went from being a religious "wash my hair" girl to a every 2-3 days in order to preserve the blonde for as long as possible. Too much heat also makes the blonde fade more quickly which means that I style it ONCE and never touch it until the next wash. I'm sure some of you are wondering how I can get away with that which leads me to the Kerastase L'incroyable Blowdry* (150mL/$40.00 CDN), a heat protector and "reshapable heat lotion"! 

NAILS | A-England Shall Be My Queen Swatch and Tiny Bit of Nail Art #ManiMonday

I love a good holo polish and when I first started my journey through the rabbit hole of nail polish, getting my hands on A-England polishes was a dream come true. I purchased my very FIRST A-England polish from Nail Polish Canada back in 2012 (Tristam) and to this day, this brand has some of my favourite holos. I only wish I had better lights and/or sunshine in Vancouver to showcase how pretty Shall Be My Queen* is! 

SKINCARE | Truly Canadian with the Chorus Supernatural Hydrate Moisturizer and Polish Facial Scrub

I love a good natural product and for those of you who know me, I have learned to be fairly discerning when it comes to "natural" and natural. I get a number of emails about the latest natural skincare to review and if it's too natural, I don't really like it all that much either. What I love are products that are "intelligently natural" and I have a list of brands that I have come to know and love in the last year or two. Let's add one more to the list - Chorus Supernatural, winner of five Clean Beauty Awards this year! 

FASHION | I Have Always Wanted: Jimmy Choo Romys

This is something completely different. Now, this will never turn into a fashion blog mainly because I could never convince my husband to take OOTDs for me and I am horrifically awkward when posing for full-bodied shots. My sense of fashion is very simple. I generally wear dresses and if I wear pants, I am either not feeling well or in need of a power boost. I adore shoes and handbags just as much as the next girl, but I tend to be pretty conservative in my shoe choices. I will spend the money, but it will never be on something trendy. It will always be on something incredibly basic which is what led me to my very first pair of Jimmy Choos. I have been wanting Choos since I tried on my first pair in Las Vegas at the age of 21. I don't normally spend more than $300 on shoes, but considering that I have become VIB Rouge twice over, it's not like I can say "I can't afford them" because clearly I am just spending my money on different things!

NAILS | Remembrance Day and Reflecting

I would never have considered myself a political person. Though I have my opinions, I have never enjoyed engaging in dinner time political banter. I think of myself as an ordinary citizen with some common sense and an average idea of what's going on in the world, but as it turns out, I am perhaps more engaged than I thought I was. I never followed the US elections closely until crunch time because like most, I thought Hillary was a shoo-in and Trump would be laughed out. Then, it was just the two of them and though I believed this to be a comedic farce taken too far, I couldn't believe it had come down to the two of them. I wasn't a huge Hillary fan, but if I had to choose who would run the supercountry of the USA, common sense tells me that the person with prior political experience would be the best choice. If I needed open heart surgery, would I choose the person with the MD or someone whose ONLY prior experience is with the game "Operation"?

MAKEUP | Diorblush Light and Contour Sculpting Stick Duo Review with Swatches

As much as I am over the whole highlighting and contouring trend, I still have a ridiculous collection of products that will help me to achieve the bone structure of a Kardashian. Highlighting, I can manage, but contouring still has me scared so I always look for TOTAL blendability in a product so that I don't end up looking foolish instead of fierce. The Diorblush Light and Contour Sculpting Sticks ($48.00 CDN) from this Fall's Skyline collection were so easy to use that even if I made a mistake, wiping off my whole face wasn't necessary!

Makeup | Sephora Collection Solid Brush Cleaner (I LOVE THIS THING!)

Cleaning my makeup brushes is something I really should do more often. I actually enjoy cleaning them once I start swirling away, especially when I start to see my brushes go from a shade of mud to virgin white. When I was contracted in Sephora, I had a lot of time to browse the makeup aisles and the Sephora Collection products always intrigued me because I often wondered if they compared to their branded competitors. House brands often get the short end of the stick, but I have been surprised in the past (hello, President's Choice products??) and have slowly started to introduce more Sephora Collection products into my routine. 

NAILS | Formula X #ColorCurators Huda Beauty Edition #ManiMonday

This was actually supposed to be for the CBB November Challenge, but by the time I got this ready, I would have only gotten a chance to wear it for one day before having to do my nails again for Mani Monday. Nail polish should be enjoyed (not in the My Strange Addictions Way) and though I do my nails a lot compared to most, three times a week is where I draw the line.

This year has been an amazing year for collaborations and the Formula X #ColorCurators collections have been an incredible example of how powerful social media has become. Bloggers and Youtubers are the faces of these collaborations instead of your typical movie stars. I have loved most of the Formula X collections, but this Huda Beauty edition has totally gotten me. Every shade had me swooning!

MAKEUP | Lise Watier Chic & Rustique 2016 Fall Collection with Makeup Look

Earlier last month, I posted this look using the Lise Watier Chic & Rustique Eyeshadow Palette as part of a Shoppers Drug Mart Instagram campaign. It just so happens that I really fell in love with wearing this look on a regular basis as it was definitely safe for work as well as soft and approachable.  Though Lise Watier has moved into the Arabesque collection in stores, most of the products I used from Chic & Rustique are part of the permanent makeup collection. While I will get into the holiday collections soon enough, I am one of those people that won't acknowledge the holiday season until AFTER Remembrance Day though I know most of the first world does not work that way. Christmas is the one time of the year that seriously lasts two months and I will happily live in my bubble of denial for the next two weeks. Those who are with me, say 'Ay!"  

NAILS | Striping Tape Burberry Nail Art #CBBNov

I am a definite romantic when it comes to nail art challenges because I think that I can do it all. I'm obviously crazy, but I couldn't resist when the CBB decided to have a little fun this month for a beauty challenge with themes that can be achieved either through nail art or makeup. Today's theme is "Plaid" which immediately brought to mind a manicure that I have ALWAYS wanted to try - "Burberry Nails"!