HOLIDAY | Sephora Collection Hits and Misses

Every holiday season Sephora releases their own themed collection (with a cute winter mascot) with this year being a frosted winter wonderland party featuring an active chubby little penguin. There were a lot of great value sets with my favourites always being the masks and advent calendars although this year I was both very excited and greatly disappointed and I think you will understand why!

 PR samples

NAILS | Ringing in 2020 with the Pantone Colour of the Year! #CBBxManiMonday

I realize that I have featured a number of blue manicure this month which just goes to show how much I love blue, BUT today's blue manicure is in celebration of the Pantone colour of the year for 2020 - Classic Blue! Whether it's polish, eyeshadow or pen colour, I have always loved blue and though it's not exactly a casual colour to wear, I love wearing it on my nails because it's like I can still have a party on my nails and look professional everywhere else!  

 PR samples

SHEET MASK | Double Dare OMG! Red + Snail Mask

Merry Christmas all! I always debate whether to post anything on Christmas Day and for the couple of times I have, the next question is always what to post because by the 25th, we have been inundated with gift sets, holiday releases and gift guides since September! If I have learned anything over the last two years, it's that "when it doubt, throw on a sheet mask" which for today is bright red and jolly like Santa! It's not often that non-Korean brands impress me and I don't even know when I started looking into Los Angeles brand Double Dare, but once I saw realized the giant OMG! headbands and the red snail masks I had been seeing on Instagram were from this brand, I knew that both of these products would eventually make their way onto my head and face!

 Purchased by me

NAILS | Santa Claus Might Not Be Coming' To Town? #CBBxManiMonday

I'm going to bring it up again - how the hell is it Dec.23rd?? How are we here now? I always feel like the Holidays creep up on me and I never have time to adjust and now that I have been LIVING it, I feel like it's going by really fast. Honestly, as much as this is a season to be joyful, I hate the fact that it's so busy everywhere you go. Malls, transit, supermarkets, the street you name it! My only safe haven is home so I secretly cannot wait for the silence that comes with January 1st. Whether it's because people are hung over or sleeping off a long night, I just look forward to the silence of the that first day of 2020. 

 PR samples

SKINCARE | Lano Face Base Jet Set Trio

The holidays are a great time to try new brands because of the GIFT SETS! With the amount of beauty I have in my possession, minis now work really well for me because now I'm experiencing things going bad before I've even finished them which really sucks. One of the brands that I still think of as relatively new to Sephora is Australian brand Lano. This Sydney-based brand uses an "exclusive ultra medical grade lanolin" (3x more pure than medical grade lanolin) which is a natural wax that comes from sheep's wool. Lanolin keeps their wool dry and protected all year round and is an ultra moisture reservoir. So, fun story, I can attest to this moisture as I helped sheer a sheep when I was a kid (you know Outdoor School) and my hands were so soft after touching the wool! That's because of the lanolin! (Yeah, that's what kids in Canada do. Help sheer sheep as part of a school trip.) Now, while I was more familar with Lano for their Lanolips products, I didn't know that they did skincare until recently when I saw this little travel kit which included a: cleanser, mask and day cream all in these cute little retro-style tubes just screaming to be opened and tried!

 PR samples

BATH | Just a Fraction of the Lush Christmas Collection

It's a shame I didn't make it to the Lush store before I shot these photos because what started out as a fraction of products sent by PR has become a more "well-rounded" collection via "Jayne going to the mall on her lunch break" as of yesterday afternoon! I just couldn't resist and I don't think I am alone when I say that the Lush Christmas Collection is always a tough one to resist whether it's for yourself or for gifts! This year did not disappoint so let's dive right into bath bomb bubbly goodness!

 PR samples featured

NAILS | Essie Tied & Blue

Doing my nails twice in one week is such a luxury you have no idea and it's not like I did them at a reasonable hour at all unless 11pm is what you would consider reasonable when you have to work the next morning. I seem to be liking blue polishes this holiday season which works out because I love blue and green polishes! I find them so interesting and whenever there is glitter or holo in them they get even more interesting! Essie generally does a solid creme and what I call "core glitter polishes" meaning a good gold, silver or pink glitter to layer on top of one of their classic cremes, but every once in awhile they do something interesting - like this year's Winter 2019 collection!

 Purchased by me

SKINCARE | Getting to Know KBeauty Brand Purito

Truth be told, when North America started getting on the "clean beauty" bandwagon and declaring products as "paraben-free" and "free of harsh chemicals" (the latter phrase I despise, but for the sake of this post I will use it) this wasn't all that new to the Korean beauty world. Most of the kbeauty products I was using 10 years ago were already paraben-free as well as had a focus on plant-based ingredients like ginseng, cica, rice and other herbs. Purito is exactly this PLUS being 100% EWG green level certified, cruelty-free, using only recycled packaging (not as pretty, but that means more money goes into the actual product) and not having added fragrance which I find HUGE in the world of kbeauty because they really love their scents!

 PR samples

NAILS | The Invasion of the Gingerbread Men #CBBxManiMonday

For the first time in awhile, I have done my nails BEFORE the actual Monday of ManiMonday! This week has been busy, but I have been surprisingly productive both at work and on the blog. I blogged a whopping 5x last week which has been unheard of since I went on staycation in September and managed to meal plan, not have to buy a single lunch or dinner outside on top of working a very hectic holiday work schedule. Mind you, I managed to acquire a two day tension headache somewhere in the midst of all this, but then I remembered that drinking water is my friend which has been quite helpful as getting sick is the LAST thing I want now that I am so close to not just surviving this month, but kicking its ass too!

 PR samples

SHEET MASK | 23 Years Old Inthera Silfitting Petit Mask

I used a few weird masks during the #100DaysofSheetMasks Challenge, but none quite as strange as this mask from Korean beauty brand 23 Years Old. If you haven't heard of the brand before, don't feel too badly because I had not heard of it either until I dove into sheet masks because they do some pretty interesting ones plus a cool modelling mask which I will try soon! The brand believes that "we are at our most attractive and youthful in our 20s" and strive to make products that keep skin looking young and healthy. Though this brand ethos sounds incredibly insulting to someone like me who is closer to 40, I understand what they mean in that my skin was at its smoothest and bounciest in my mid 20s. Though 23 Years Old has a number of sheet masks, the Inthera Silfitting Petit Mask (I still don't understand the name of it...) is the weirdest sheet mask I have ever tried!

Purchased by me

NAILS | OPI x Hello Kitty Holiday Glitter Gradient

Woohoo, I am four for four blog posts this week! This year is the lowest number of blog posts I have ever written since starting Cosmetic Proof in 2011. Call it fatigue, the year of "The Instagram" or just an overwhelming amount of beauty stuff to talk about, but I have had a rough time sticking to my goal of 20 blog posts of month. In the last 6 months, I have allowed myself to dial it back a bit to rest or enjoy my evenings watching Netflix or spending it with my husband. I have also started to do less blogging-related things on my two days off especially when it comes to makeup looks which I am a bit sad about because there is nothing more satisfying than seeing a look come together. I don't know what 2020 will be like, but I know I will still be around talking to you, talking to myself and just putting it out there. As you can tell, this post isn't just about the nail polish although we should probably address what's on my nails a little bit before I go completely off the deep end!

 PR samples

HAIR | Marc Anthony Nourishing Hemp Oil Collection

Never thought I'd be using cannabis in my hair, but here we are with the newest haircare collection from Marc Anthony featuring the nourishing properties of cannabis sativa oil! Obviously, this collection won't get you high, but you and your hair will feel pretttyy good by the end of all four products!

PR samples

SKINCARE | Taking Care of Winter Skin with Caudalie

This post is sponsored by Beautysense.ca

Winter isn't just coming anymore, it is here and so is some of the driest skin I have ever experienced in a long time. Maybe it's getting older and partially the weather, but all I know is that I have had to step up my skincare game in order to keep skin moisture levels and radiance at their peak! I was first introduced to French brand Caudalie more than eight years through the Glymm subscription box and over the years, I have gotten the chance to experience their products in some amazing ways and discovered absolute must-have products like their refreshing Beauty Elixir, Grape Water and Vinoperfect Radiance Serum! They were also one of the first luxury plant-based brands I knew of who were eco-conscious and focused on anti-aging concerns using plant-based anti-oxidant rich polyphenols.

NAILS | O Christmas Tree #CBBxManiMonday

I know that in my last ManiMonday post, I couldn't believe it was the end of 2019 and now I'm going to say that this has felt like the longest week! I had a headache that lasted 5 days, which got worse in front of a computer, and I have been feeling like there is no TIME to finish things up for the year! I am determined to not let the flurry of the holidays and deadlines rule me, but it is TOUGH to do because everyone else is trying to get things done before the year is up and it can be hard to ignore that kind of stress. Even at my dentist check up on Friday, there were people trying to book one last cleaning in because their benefits would cover it, but the receptionist kept saying that they were so booked! I will just continue to plug along here as this is Christmas #8 on the blog and though I have never been one to go crazy with holiday gift guides or posts, I do like me some holiday nails! 

Some polishes are PR samples

NAILS | Snowflakes #CBBxManiMonday

It's December holy crap. It's the last month of this friggin' DECADE and I know that it's going to be over in a flash! A lot of people have said to me that 2019 was not their year and that they just want to move on to 2020, but this WAS my year at least according to the Lunar calendar (I am a Pig in the Year of the Pig) and while it was a good first half, this latter half has been rough. If you were really superstitious you would say it's because I never wore "something red" as you are supposed to do in your year to ward off bad luck. Then again, I also know another Pig who wore red all year and has had a crap year too so it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. Anyway, apologies for the lateness of this ManiMonday post as I have been suffering from a headache that has made me nauseous every time I have sat down in front of a computer so after some painkillers, a massage, a nap and tea here I am finally sitting down!

PR samples