NAILS | Dotted Abstract Nail Art #CBBxManiMonday

Here we are on the last day of September and though I am just shocked at how quickly this month has passed, I am really excited for October because...HALLOWEEN! I am excited for the manicure and the crazy sheet masks I have planned! Today's #CBBxManiMonday is about the clash of two brights once again - blue and pink! As you can tell, I have REALLY been into abstract nail art as of late so I wanted to give it one more go before we start doing the creepy, crawly manicures!

PR samples featured

MAKEUP | Physician's Formula Butter Highlighters, Bronzers and Blush

I know I'm getting to this a little late, but better late than never, right? The CBB brand of the month is Physician's Formula and though I had SO MUCH planned for this while I was on vacation, time got the better of me once I started my cleaning of the Beauty Vault so I chose my favourite PF face products for now and then I will have one more on their lip products next month!  

PR samples featured

NAILS | Pretty & Polished Clouds in My Coffee #UntriedThursdays

My two week staycation was amazing and it's not that I took the time off to relax, but with my husband gone, it gave me just over a week to declutter and make a mess without worrying about disturbing him since he has asthma and the dust can really upset his lungs. I also needed to use HIS desk as extra space to lay out everything for my decluttering so it really did work out. I still have a lot left to do, but I made a massive dent and gave away so much stuff that I can finally see the floor of my office as well as other surfaces! One area that I have not even touched because I know how long it will take to do is decluttering NAIL POLISH. When I first started blogging, indie nail polish was in its heyday so I have A TON of beautiful indie nail polishes from a number of brands that now cease to exist. I don't want to just give them away without trying them first so I am going to attempt TWO manicures a week - #CBBxManiMonday and #UntriedThursdays!

Purchased by me SO LONG AGO

SHEET MASK | 7th Heaven Detox with a Bubble, Charcoal Tonic and Peel Off Clay (?!) Masks

I think we have all seen 7th Heaven (formerly Montagne Jeunesse) masks at the drugstore and for the last 30 years, this company has brought us cruelty-free and vegetarian masks that peel and bubble. Now, that I have been blogging for almost a decade, I like to look back at past posts to see how often I have featured brands that have been around and when it comes to 7th Heaven, it turns out I have had nothing but positive things to say about them since 2012! No, not all of their masks have necessarily worked for me, but have you seen how MANY masks they have? I mean, my God, if one doesn't work there are three others that will! 

Two masks are PR samples

MAKEUP | Lancome Monsieur Big Heart-Shaped Eyeshadow Palette

I realize as I am writing this that the last makeup look I did on here was also pink. I guess I'm just feeling girly this month, granted the Huda Neon Obsessions Palette is a bit more of an adventurous pink compared to today's romantically feminine palette! The Lancome Monsieur Big Heart-Shaped Eyeshadow Palette is a limited edition palette filled with 12 rosy and neutral shades encased in a metallic pink heart. Totally collectable, right?

PR sample

NAILS | Celebrating the First Day of Fall with a "Grey"- dient #CBBxManiMonday

OMGGGG. I love how I went from feeling totally on the ball with life and blogging while on vacation and now I am so zapped of energy that I feel like I never took two glorious weeks off to begin with! Oddly enough, I was tired of cleaning my beauty space for 5-6 hours a day so I was actually quite excited to head back into work and by Day 2 I was pretty much done. Not to say, I don't enjoy the challenges of my job and honestly I feel like I can stretch my brain in a different way there than in this blogging space. With that being said, I will be honest here in that I had prepared this manicure well in advance as I wasn't sure how coming back to work would hit me. The next thing I need to be honest about is that I only remember ONE colour I used because I didn't write anything down...

PR samples featured

SHEET MASK | 15Twenty The Royal Treatment Collection

I was not expecting to be away from here for the entire week! I went back to work this past Tuesday after a lovely 2 week staycation which was so nice to have. With a new kitten in the house, it was good to be around for her and to monitor how things progressed with Harper and Hugo which as of right now are fairly good with a few little fights here and there. Harper is small, but she has definitely helped with mourning Hemingway as they are similar, but also very different so I feel like we see a little part of him everyday. Now, I had fully intended on swarming the blog with many many sheet masks posts especially since September's CBB theme is "Masks", but now that my body is remembering how tiring work is, I think I will be back to my normal snail pace starting with a series of masks that I started using back in May from a brand called 15Twenty Beauty! 

PR samples

NAILS | Dotted Blue Gradient #CBBxManiMonday

It has rained for five days straight in Vancouver and I have had to wear socks and pants in the house. Fall is coming and though I do enjoy cooler weather, the constant rain has been a dreary reminder of what's to come over the next couple of months. Today is also the last day of my glorious staycation which has been VERY productive in terms of finally gaining some traction in purging my beauty room! I have literally been cleaning out the space every day for the last 7 days averaging about 5-6 hours/day and have filled one of our recycling bins outside to the max with old press releases and packaging and have donated NINE medium sized Aritzia bags of beauty products to friends, family, co-workers and neighbours! I still have yet to tackle my nail polish collection and that is something I will not be able to complete this week, but I am hoping that by the end of the month, I will have created some space! Then, the exciting part of getting a new desk and new storage can happen once I know what I am working with!  

Some PR products used

MAKEUP | Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips 2 with Lip Swatches

I love Charlotte Tilbury makeup just as much as the next girl and though I am fortunate enough to receive the occasional press package here and there, I do buy a fair amount of CT product on my own especially when I need to restock on my dry sheet masks! When the original Hot Lips launched back in 2016 (review), I was psyched to get my hands on them and bought a few more after enjoying the formula and shades quite a bit. Now, there are 11 brand new shades with two formulas coming in 5 collectable cases! Oh, and the cases are refillable!

PR samples

GIVEAWAY | All Your Hair Needs Taken Care of this Fall with Live Clean!

We are closing in on Fall which means a revamp of all things beauty like me feeling the urge to go from a glossy to a matte lip, bright to darker nails and more moisture EVERYWHERE! While I generally try to keep my hair fairly hydrated all year round, I pay extra attention in the Fall and Winter season with switching to more moisturizing shampoos and oils, oil, oils! Now, do I have a treat for you! 

PR samples

SHEET MASK | Kocostar Lemon Sliced Mask #100DaysofSheetMasks

Ok, I am cheating a little bit as this was a mask that I wore for last year's #100DaysofSheetMasks challenge, but I am determined to empty out my "Masks Unblogged" folder by the end of 2019! I was a bit overzealous last year in thinking that I could pump out 100 sheet mask reviews, but better yet that EVERY mask deserved a dedicated blog post. Some masks are just pretty to look at on the outside, but then when I try it there is nothing in particular that makes it different from another plain white sheet mask that you have seen before. With Kocostar though, the packaging is cute, but then you NEED to know what these slices look like on the skin! I have already reviewed the salad portion of their mask slices series (cucumber and tomato) so it's time for some fruit!

Purchased by me

NAILS | Going Abstract Again #CBBxManiMonday

I used to think that I could never pull off an abstract manicure and when I started seeing more and more of the minimalist/geometric style manicures being showcased by big brands and other nail artists, I still wasn't sure if I had the creativity to design something and I still don't! I'm not a particularly creative person so I really do need to go through Pinterest or Instagram to get some ideas and today's manicure is from the feed of one of my favourite nail artists @thehangedit. I have also really been loving the shades from the new CND Treasured Moments collection so this manicure gave me a chance to use them again!

PR samples featured

SKINCARE | KBeauty Routine with Seoul Sundays

It seemed only fitting to talk about Vancouver-based Korean beauty e-tailer Seoul Sundays on a Sunday! Launching earlier this year, this is a curated set of products by some lovely ladies who, like many of us, have run through the gamut of skincare and have a fairly good idea of products that work. When it comes to Kbeauty, technology and products tend to be more advanced and have fancier mode of actions than North American skincare. If anything, by the time something hits North America (remember BB cream?), it has already been done and revamped a thousand times over in Asia. Though the Seoul Sundays product listing isn't extensive, the products that ARE there are all ones that have been tested out personally by the staff themselves and the products I did recognize I KNEW were excellent! You will often see the products in action on the company's Instagram Stories making what you might be buying more relatable to your own skincare routine.

PR samples

SHEET MASK | Ultru I'm Sorry For My Skin S.O.S Jelly Mask

Have I mentioned how much I love my FaceTory subscription? I have discovered so many cool brands and masks that every month has me so excited to put all this stuff on my face! Though I discovered the brand Ultru through the Beauteque mask subscription and subsequently fell hard for the clay sheet mask, Facetory also carries the brand and included a summery-looking jelly mask in the August 2018 box that I finally tried out this past July! Hey, don't judge me! At least it wasn't expired and even then, I would probably would still put it on my face!

Purchased by me as part of the FaceTory yearly subscription

SKINCARE | My Summer Skincare Routine (Other than Sheet Masks!)

Gone are the days where I used to do single skincare product reviews! I personally have found round-ups a bit more helpful unless it's a single amazing product that can truly stand on its own because of the price, ingredients or mode of operation.  I also like seeing how people are using various types of products together and now that I am older and more proactive about my skin and health in general, I am hoping some of you might find my skincare routine interesting too! 

PR samples marked with *. All other products purchased by me. 

MAKEUP LOOK | Huda Beauty Neon Obsessions Palette in PINK

I wear makeup everyday for work and not just a little bit of tinted moisturizer and lipgloss, but full on corporate job, gotta look put-together makeup so wearing primer, long-wearing foundation, eyeshadow, and setting spray are all products I use 5 days a week. The only thing is that my look is one that is fairly neutral. Occasionally, I dabble in purples or I will whip out the Stila Glitter & Glow Eyeshadows which almost always has clients commenting, but generally I am a rainbow of light brown to dark brown. I do my gradient from inner corner to outer V and that's pretty much it, but then this summer neon struck! I saw the trio of Huda Beauty Neon Obsessions Palettes and the 90s kid in me lunged for them, but then the 36-year old woman in me said "how often are you REALLY going to wear these shades?" Turns out, pink is my jam!

Purchased by me

SHEET MASK | Sephora Collection Freezing, Peeling and 2 in 1 Oil Mask #100DaysofSheetMasks

Sephora is kind of killing it right now when it comes interesting sheet masks. Yes, some are awesome while some are duds, but all have been featured in such a way that I am utterly fascinated and HAVE to experience them! The three newest masks to the Sephora Collection are the Peeling, Freezing and 2 in 1 Oil Mask - all of which seemed too cool to miss out and I am SURE you all have been dying to find out what they are all about!

Some PR samples

NAILS | Clashing Colours #CBBxManiMonday

This month's #CBBxManiMonday theme is "Colour Combinations" which is a pretty open-ended so I took that as an opportunity to keep with my bright summer colours and go with two shades that kind of clash, but also seem to work at the same time -  pink and fuchsia! 

PR samples