MASK | Nannette de Gaspe Vitality Revealed Decollete Dry Masque #AnywhereButTheFace

For this month's #AnywhereButTheFace masking challenge, I initially looked to Nannette de Gaspe because not only did they pioneer the dry sheet mask technology, but they have masks for EVERY part of the body! While this is certainly a luxury brand, I have to say that everything about their masks fascinates me from the technology down to the application and in the world of skincare this is difficult to do! I was strolling through Holt Renfrew one day and I noticed that there were some new masks that had been released in addition to the Youth Revealed line knows as Vitality Revealed which rolled in a slightly higher price point and from what I can see from the ingredient list, have additional peptides delivered over a 5 day "mesotherapy ritual". There are currently three masks in this collection: Face, Neck and what I will showcase the Decollete!

Purchased by me

SHEET MASKS | ORGAID Organic Sheet Masks and New Honey and Brown Rice Face Polish!

Way back in 2017, I attended Cosmoprof North America in Las Vegas, which is an annual beauty trade show focusing on beauty brands with cool technologies, so you won't be seeing anything boring! Favourite brands like Odacite, Purlisse and Pai were all there to showcase what made them different from everyone else and the lineup this year looks pretty amazing too! While visiting the Green Beauty area of the show, I came across the brand ORGAID, made in California and developed by Korean chemist Dr. Baek, and at the time, was exclusively a sheet mask only brand. Not only was the essence free of parabens, alcohols, phthalates, phenoxyethanol, sulfates and artificial fragrance, but what REALLY set this skincare brand apart from the others was the invention of a sheet mask material called Ecoderma!

PR samples

NAILS | Daisy, Daisy, Daisy #CBBxManiMonday

I took a few days off this week to essentially clean up the apartment and get my home life back and track. As I mentioned before, when work life is productive, I never seem to have the energy for home life, but I was thinking to myself this morning that if I didn't blog my days off would be more free to do the housework that I don't seem to have time to do more regularly. Without blogging though, I would be a most unhappy individual and the overall joy I feel from being surrounded by beauty products is well worth it so as I write this, I am soaking some long overdue hand-washing (I despise hand-washing dresses and sweaters) and finally ticking my first house-related chore off the list! When people ask me how I have time to do my nails even just once a week (I can't believe I used to paint them 2-3x before!), I legit have to make time...like at 12am sometimes which is what happened with these nails because my husband and I ended up watching the movie "Booksmart" last night (it was ok).

PR samples

MASK | Truly Organic Rainbows in Mirrors, Star Fruit and the Star Kisser Jelly Lip Plumping Mask

On any given day, I'm masking some part of my body and though it is mostly my face, I also enjoy finding new masks for my hair and lips! When I was on my girls shopping day in March, I stopped in Nordstrom to look at some shoes and on the way out, a clean beauty pop-up caught my eye because it had a number of US-based brands that I had only seen online like Rael, Clove and Hallow and Truly Organic. I had seen so many colourful, millennial-bait style posts on Instagram for Truly Organic from glitter lip masks to unicorn body butters that I had to see what the big deal was! Was it all just for show? Or were the products actually effective in addition to being so cute that I hated myself for wanting everything?!

Purchased by me

NAILS | Purple Roses #CBBxManiMonday

I wanted to make up for my laziness the last month and finally sit down and commit to some hand-drawn nail art so even though it was midnight and I was still reeling from the last night's Game of Thrones episode. *SPOILER ALERT* I was rooting for Daenerys, but after what she decided to do with King's Landing, it was evident that her reign would have been like that of a dictator as she probably would have slaughtered everyone in the North for not bowing down to her, but I am sad that her end was written this way. I was sad that Jaime made the decision to basically commit suicide by leaving Winterfell and I still don't know what his purpose was at King's Landing, but that was another ending that left me feeling unfulfilled. You know what DID have me feeling good last night though were these nails! 

PR samples

SHEET MASK | Soo'AE Intensive Neck and Decolletage Mask #AnywhereButTheFace

You know I hadn't intended on writing a blog post about this mask. I was just going to post a photo on Instagram, do a "micro-review" and call it a day, but I have since decided that because this is a style of mask I have NEVER tried or featured on Cosmetic Proof, it seemed appropriate to share my first experience with the brand Korean beauty brand Soo'Ae! 

Purchased by me

MAKEUP | The Urban Decay Game of Thrones Collection

After last Sunday's GoT episode, I was too unmotivated to talk about GoT because for any of you who tuned in, it definitely wasn't the best. Stories are feeling rushed, characters are doing some tragic things despite becoming better people these last 7 seasons and my biggest pet peeve with all of this is how seemingly easy the battle with the Night King seemed to be. This was an enemy that had been built up for so long and now it's over. I almost miss the bastard after seeing Sunday's episode!

Now, that we have one more episode to go, where I'm pretty sure Dany is going to have to be eliminated (she would have been a total dictator), we might as well talk about the only makeup collection that has gotten me excited for a long time! In general, I have definitely moved towards skincare as my vice, but the Urban Decay x Game of Thrones Collection got my blood pumping again so let's get into it! 

PR samples

NAILS | Red, White and Blue #CBBxManiMonday

I started out my Saturday morning with a very painful sore throat that lasted all the way through Sunday and all I was doing was praying to God that it wasn't strep throat because not only is it contagious, but the last time I had it, I was coughing for months and had a fever for over a week. Thankfully, this has only evolved into being a small cold with my throat feeling much better and just the occasional sneezing attack here and there. I still wasn't feeling 100% last night so combined with that horrific Game of Thrones episode, I decided to take it easy on myself and haul out my trusty water flower decals!

Some PR samples featured 

SKINCARE | Head to Toe Dry Skin Loves

I love how just as I am in the process of putting together this post, summer hits in Vancouver and I kid you not, it was 17 degrees when I left for work this morning! All I needed was a very light cardigan and by afternoon I was pretty much sweltering! Nevertheless, maybe some of you will still enjoy these products if you struggle with drier skin or you can add these favourites of mine to your winter wishlist!

Some PR samples featured

HAIR | The Body Shop Shea Butter Collection

Almost 2 months ago to the day, I attended the launch of some new products for The Body Shop's Shea Butter Collection at CF Pacific Centre downtown and even made an exfoliating lip scrub to take home all by 8:45am (gotta love morning events)! The Shea Butter range is not a new one, but over the last few years The Body Shop has revamped packaging, added new products and more importantly, raised awareness for ethical wage compensation, community trade ingredients, animal testing and transparency within the global supply chain. All of us were able to see the women in Ghana make this very shea butter I'm using as well as how these job opportunities have given these women their independence. Here I was being all grumpy about having to go to work after the event and then I hear these women talk about how proud they are to finally be able to provide for their families instead of relying on their husbands and I shut right up!

PR samples

NAILS | Sketch Flowers #CBBxManiMonday

I will make this short and sweet as I pulled a longer day at work and got home much later than I had anticipated, ate dinner at 9pm and then showered at 11pm. All in all, I should be sleeping now! This month, the CBB ManiMonday crew and I are dedicated to bringing you the best in flower power so I am starting off the month with some rather messy, sketch flowers which look pretty awful from far away, but less of a trainwreck up close! 

PR samples

SHEET MASKS | "Menstrual Masking" with Rael Beauty

I love it when a product lives up to its pretty packaging. I first came across LA-based feminine care brand Rael Beauty on Anna's (@maskaddict) Instagram feed and though she does share with all of us A TON of sheet mask brands, this was one of the ones that I immediately looked up, found on Amazon.ca and purchased 4 boxes of all 4 masks available! Not only was the packaging sexy, but I loved the sustainable materials and ingredients and the brand's story. Created by three South Korean women, Rael's main focus is feminine hygiene and menstrual care with their initial products being 100% natural cotton  pads, tampons and liners and added holistic care like the sheet masks intended to combat those hormonal skin freakouts we all get during our periods as well as provide some added pampering. I adore these sheet masks and have already signed up to receive on autoreplenishment in a few months because I KNOW I cannot be without these! 

Purchased by me