Here we are at New Year's Eve 2021 and I am sure we are all wondering how we got here in one piece with the "super fun" year we have had. I mean, it was a better year than 2020 where we got to see some semblance of outdoor life, but what I found the hardest was what was happening globally and politically. I will reflect more on 2021 in my "Resolutions" post tomorrow, but for now I wanted to end the year on a Canadian brand that I have been enjoying - True and You which stands for "true" ingredients that are customized for "you"!
SKINCARE | True and You Customizable Glacial Clay Mask (Made in Canada!)
NAILS | OPI Celebration Blues #CBBxManiMonday
For once Vancouver had a White Christmas this past weekend with snow falling on Friday night and continuing well into Christmas Day. While it looked very pretty, we have also been hit with an Arctic blast sending temperatures from the positive down to a low of -12 degrees Celsius today! The last time I remember encountering double digit negative temperatures I was in Montreal for Christmas! Suffice it to say, I have been very cold in the apartment as I struggle to keep warm with my many layers, tea and hot water bottle. The air has also been super dry so my friends have been Rhinaris and my spa steamer for when my nose needs extra moisture. Before anyone starts to say we Vancouverites are total pansies, keep in mind that the city isn't prepared for this kind of weather so my apartment has virtually no insulation on all the windows so I constantly feel a breeze even with all of the windows shut. The floor itself is cold even though I have cranked up my heat. I am wearing fur-lined slippers on top of wool socks on top of regular socks and my feet are still cold! I think I still prefer this cold to the heatwave as I can still putter around and do things without a headache or constant sweating. I also don't have to worry about my cats overheating as I'm sure they can handle the apartment being 16-17 degrees. They have a heating pad and many blankets so no worries. Hopefully no animals are stuck outside in this cold!
SHEET MASK | Too Cool for School Egg Cream Mask
NAILS | OPI Celebration Glitter Gradient #CBBxManiMonday
I think it's pretty cool this year that Christmas falls on a Saturday because then Friday night really means something extra special and in my world of retail, it is the first Saturday I have had off since 2010! THAT is the last time Christmas fell on a Saturday! And, since our location is typically closed on Sundays that means that we are closed on Boxing Day too! All of us are just so psyched to have a simultaneous Christmas weekend off! It's one of the things I am most looking forward to and part of what is driving me to survive this week. Most clients have been super sweet, but there have been a few sour apples that just seem extra sour this holiday season. Hopefully karma gets them right where it hurts!
SHEET MASK | Sephora Holographic and Blue Mask
BODY | Pixi Beauty Glycolic Body Wash, Peel and Lotion
I have always been a rather enthusiastic exfoliator and routinely go through body scrubs every 1-2 months. I have often wondered why there weren't any chemical exfoliating options for the body when there are so many for the face. I don't think it was until the last year or so that I started seeing more body-focused lotions and peels and when Pixi Beauty came out with this trio of glycolic body goodies this past summer, I couldn't help but shout "Hallelujah!" because THIS is exactly what I have been wanting in my shower routine!
NAILS | The Holly and The Ivy #CBBxManiMonday
It's that time in retail where I have officially lost track of the days and I am just living each day in the moment and not planning too much hence the tardiness of this week's #CBBxManiMonday. I think having last year's holiday season be relatively tame compared to regular Christmases has spoiled me and now I seem to have a much lower tolerance and feel drained more quickly by the end of the day. I am just constantly yawning in the car on the drive home so I keep my car colder to stay awake! Though I don't necessarily love the holidays, I do enjoy doing Christmas nail art!
SHEET MASK | Saturday Skin Cotton Cloud Probiotic Power Mask
When probiotics in skincare first came out, it was an exciting time for me as I was really into yogurt and promoting good gut flora in my digestive system and there were some good studies that showed that probiotics in skincare were beneficial to the skin barrier. At the time, Saturday Skin's Cotton Cloud Probiotic Power mask was the only probiotic mask I knew of though even now I don't think this is something many brands do.
NAILS | Polar Bears and Snowflakes #CBBxManiMonday
Firstly, I think because of the number of things I have had to do over the last few days it feels like it's ManiThursday! I had some car issues this past Friday where my alternator and battery died while I was on a major bridge in the middle of morning rush hour traffic! It was very scary as all my lights on the dashboard just shut off and I could no longer accelerate! I managed to use basically pure gravity to coast to the first emergency pullover area and I was lucky that no one rear-ended me as my signal indicator wasn't working nor were my hazard lights. It was also pretty cold at -1 degrees Celsius and where I was stopped, there wasn't transit or an easily walkable place to catch a cab, but thank goodness for Uber and the willingness of the drivers to pick you up from anywhere! My car is still getting repaired and at $1000 for the repair, I am glad that most of my Christmas shopping is done!
SHEET MASK | Garnier SkinActive Moisture Bomb Biodegradable Sheet Masks
NAILS | Abstract Fall Blobbies #CBBxManiMonday
And just like that, we are into the Holidays! I have to say that this year, at least from what I have noticed at work with clients, people are getting into the holidays much more quickly! In the last couple of days I have had multiple men come in to get gifts compared to last year where nobody really started thinking about it until the middle of December. Suffice it to say, it has turned out to be a busy last week which I can't complain about!
SHEET MASK | The Creme Shop Hello Kitty Tea Time Sheet Mask
I was a bit of a hoarder when it came to these Hello Kitty sheet masks from The Creme Shop and now the time has come to use them as I have noticed the expiration dates are looming and more importantly, I have observed that The Creme Shop sheet masks seem to dry out more quickly than the other brands I have. Granted, they don't dry out before the expiration dates, but I've never been someone to take expiration dates on sheet masks very seriously as the masks always work and there is always plenty of essence to ensure the fibres remain hydrated. Having noticed this, I have been trying to prioritize these VERY kawaii masks as they have incredibly cute prints!
SKINCARE | Teaology Serum Infusion Trio
I have been excited to write about these three Musketeers as I have truly been enjoying this new trio of Teaology serums that launched this past summer! While I share a lot of skincare I use on Instagram stories, I don't often sit down and do full blog reviews of each product mainly due to time, but as I have already finished one of the serums it was evident that these deserved to be in the spotlight! Teaology products are made in Italy and look to nature for their ingredients. What sets their products apart from others in the skincare game is that instead of water, a tea infusions are used! We all know that tea is good for the insides of our bodies, but for our outsides as well as tea contains tannins which are antioxidants that neutralize free radicals. Knowing that either a black, white or blue tea infusion is in each of Teaology's products is pretty cool!
NAILS | "Red"-y for the Sour Patch Kids #CBBxManiMonday
Ah, I know I don't have real nail art for today, but I have been desperately trying to catch up with house chores which has zapped most of my after-work energy. I also have been going to bed at around 1am which is not good considering I need to be up at 7am though my husband measured by REM sleep with his fancy runner's watch and apparently I am very efficient with my sleep! He says that despite having only 6 hours of sleep, half of that is consistently REM sleep which he says he never gets! I attribute that to taking a more regular dose of CBD every night after my shower. Still, I always feel like death when my alarm goes off and then about three Snooze Buttons later, I finally decide to get up! Yes, I know I am one of those people who laze around in bed for awhile before finally getting up!
SHEET MASK | For Beloved One Flawless Brightening Ethyl Ascorbic Acid Bio-Cellulose Mask
HAIR | JVN Undamage Collection and Instant Recovery Serum
It's heeeerre! I love the show Queer Eye and don't think I've made it through a single episode without crying so when I heard that hair and grooming expert Jonathan Van Ness was coming out with a namesake haircare line, I had a feeling that it was going to be special! Made with the natural silicone alternative hemisqualane, this ingredient is fast-absorbing and non-greasy and is an amazing hydrator with high spreadability thanks to its low molecular weight. This lightweight property also makes hemisqualane a great way to reduce frizz!
NAILS | Cadillacquer Cobalt #CBBxManiMonday
Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to do some real nail art this week, BUT I do have this insanely gorgeous nail polish from Cadillacquer's Fall/Halloween collection! I am back to feeling the constant need to catch up both at work and here at beauty central. I stayed back at work about 30 minutes just to catch up on emails and forced myself to leave when my eyes felt super blurry. I've realized that there is only so much "valuable" work you can do when you are tired. Mistakes get made and it takes longer to do things so I try to keep it very basic the few times I do stay late.
SHEET MASK | Papa Recipe Bombee Fruitables
NAILS | Hot Cross Buns #CBBxManiMonday
Who here enjoyed their extra hour of sleep yesterday? I did not as I woke up fairly early for some reason at 7:30am. I usually like to sleep in on my day off, but for some reason I naturally woke up and decided to read and have some hashbrowns while my Sleeping Beauty of a husband slept for another 4 hours! It is going to be a busy week for me as we are doing a weeklong client even at work so hopefully it means some good numbers for all of us, but it also is a lot of running around which can leave you pretty exhausted by the end of the day!
SHEET MASK | Reme + G 3 in 1 Aqua Peeling Kit
It is honestly just shameful how long I have been sitting on this review ( you can tell from my hair colour approximately when I used everything)! I have this box of sheet masks that I have used and would like to review and while I have made a bit of a dent in it over the last year with my slowing down on the sheet mask purchasing, I still have enough in the box for #SheetMaskSunday posts until next Spring! I don't know if people are still interested in sheet masks after they exploded in the North American market a few years ago, but posting sheet masks on Sundays gives me some sense of routine and if blogging is still a thing in a few decades, I will still be here posting about sheet masks just because I like doing these posts at the start of the week. Gives the blog a jumpstart for the week!
NAILS | Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Neon in Chill Out and Weekly Chat
I feel like I have been kind of busy the last week or so and I think it's because I haven't really had a true weekend or in the retail world, two days off in a row. It's just the retail life and though my boss tries his best to give everyone grouped days off, as the holiday season approaches it gets harder and harder to do. Today, I pretty much spent the day with people so didn't really get a chance to be on my own and even lunch was more of a company lunch where I didn't have time to decompress and zen out with my LEGO. Though I did enjoy doing something a little different for the day, as an introvert, these types of interactions are extremely draining and by the time I got home, I didn't feel like talking anymore. My poor husband was so chatty and all I could do was slur a few syllables together and tell him I wasn't in the mood for conversation anymore. I just can't wait to go to bed and recharge over Sunday as I need to work on Saturday.
MAKEUP | IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better Foundation + Skincare
NAILS | Leafy Greens #CBBxManiMonday
I saw a post on Instagram today from a nail tech who posted that if any of her clients wanted leaf nail art, that they were fresh outta luck because she hates leaves! I feel I don't do enough leaves on my nails and though I feel like we are now closer to Christmas than Fall, I've only done one set of leaf nails so this will be my second and last!
SHEET MASK | Kyojin/Attack on Titan Design Face Packs
I didn't really mean to take a week long break from here, I was taking over some additional responsibilities at work last week that left me napping for an hour or two once I got home from work which meant that I had little energy for not much beyond reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (oh so good!) and some episodes of Seinfeld which I am so happy are now on Netflix! Jerry Seinfeld must be covered in so much money now that he's allowing the show to be streamed!
It's Halloween today which means that #SheetMaskSunday should be a scary one and a scary one it is with these two sheet masks that have transformed me into the male and female Titans from the Japanese anime series "Attack on Titan". If you haven't watched this, this is one of the best-selling animes of all time and is about a world where humanity has to live within these massive walls in order to protect themselves from gigantic man-eating humanoid looking creatures known as kyojin or Titans. When I first watched the series a few years ago, I found the Titans disturbing to look at as they were grosteque-looking giants with the sinewy bits of muscle showing all with MASSIVE clown grins on their faces. It's the fact that they are always smiling which is super creepy.
NAILS | Squid Game Nail Art #CBBxManiMonday
While my husband played a game of Dungeons & Dragons this past Friday night, I decided that after a week long break, it was time to finish Squid Game! I had just watched the very tragic Episode 6 which teaches us not to get too attached to anyone and took a break so that I could be ready for more death and blood. I watched the remaining three episodes while enjoying some new Spicy Chicken Nuggets from McDonald's and felt unsatisfied with how the season wrapped up. I don't think I ever would have watched it if it weren't for the hype, but I'm glad I did as I can now form a fully informed opinion about the show. I feel like I have more questions than before and even though I have heard Season 2 will clear things up for us, I can't see myself investing in Squid Game again. I did find the overall series disturbingly honest and there are certain moments that I will never be able to purge from my brain and now all of the Squid Game memes are ones I can relate to!
NAILS | Cirque Colors One Night Stand Swatch and Weekly Chat
I feel like not a lot has happened this week as it has felt fairly chill on the work and personal life front. I mentioned that I have been trying to watch more movies and read more which I have been plugging away at. Like the rest of the planet, I started watching Squid Game on Netflix and had to take a bit of a break after Episode 6. Honestly, I am only watching it because it's trending. This is not really my kind of series as I walk away from each episode feeling a little depressed and frankly stressed! I have been watching the episodes at work while I work on Lego and don't know if I want to pick it up again because I always feel like I am on the edge of my seat every episode! I am so close to finishing though and it would just be nice to check it off my to do list as I plan on doing Squid Game nails next week!
MAKEUP | Pixi On-the-Glow Blush with Swatches
NAILS | Cadillacquer Redrum Thermal Polish with Scary Spiders #CBBxManiMonday
I promised I was going to take it easy yesterday and I think I achieved that! I woke up a little late (9:45am) after having gone to bed at around 1am the night before and took the morning reallllly slow. My TMJ has been acting up so I woke up with a bit of headache and the left side of my jaw felt a bit swollen so part of the reason for my just taking it easy for the day was just because I was feeling grumpy from the discomfort. I ended up watching Beetlejuice for the first time while I had lunch (remember when movies were only 1.5 hours long?) and quite enjoyed it which then led to a short walk in around the neighbourhood with my husband just to get the legs moving. It was raining, but at this time in Vancouver it's sort of a given that the weather will be like this.
SHEET MASK | Holler and Glow Get Lit and Hangover SOS Masks
NAILS | Picture Polish "Alice" Swatch and Weekly Catch Up
SKINCARE | Selfless by Hyram Mandelic Acid and Rice Bran Gentle Exfoliating Serum
What's this? Yet, ANOTHER beauty influencer with their own cosmetic line? While I understand why these partnerships are done, I honestly roll my eyes with each one of these influencer launches especially when it comes to skincare as a lot of the time, I don't truly believe that these people understand what they are promoting and historically speaking, tend to promote whichever brand gives the nicest brand trips, prettiest press packages or pays the most for sponsored content. When it came to Selfless by Hyram, I hesitated. I did watch Hyram quite a bit before his brand launch as he was fairly critical of supposed holy grail products and brands that all of the other influencers seemed to love. Overall, I do find him to be a fairly educated consumer who has not fallen victim to the "clean" or "green" movement and tends to avoid using those terms as well. The name of the brand made me cringe a little bit having the word "selfless" in there kind of seems to say the opposite like when someone says they themselves are generous. It just doesn't sit well. Nevertheless, because of the decent price point and the ingredients in Hyram's products, I decided to dip a toe in (I have been very good about not buying much skincare over the last two years) and purchase my favourite part of a skincare routine - a chemical exfoliant in the form of the Mandelic Acid and Rice Bran Gentle Exfoliating Serum.
NAILS | Cadillacquer Halloween 2021 Crepuscule Thermal Nail Polish (With a Spooky Surprise!) #CBBxManiMonday
How is everyone feeling today? I have been moving at what feels like the pace of a sloth and trying to not feel guilty about taking it easy. We had Thanksgiving dinner just the two of us, but we still made quite a bit of food plus I decided we needed some dessert and baked a vanilla cake with homemade icing using one of the Jenny Can Cooks recipes and it turned out very yummy! I didn't have time to prepare my Halloween nails so I ended up painting AFTER dinner at midnight. Not ideal, but because I had today off as well, I figured I could afford to stay up and sleep in. I "slept in" until 9am because the guilt of not being all that productive yesterday jolted me awake. Also, as an adult, I find it very hard to sleep in past 9am. Even without an alarm, my body just wants to get up so I look forward to being 80 years old and puttering around at 6am!
SHEET MASK | Mad Beauty Disney with Minnie Mouse and Princess Jasmine
SKINCARE | Lip Care with Three Ships Beauty
Last year, I made it a point to purchase skincare more wisely and purchase Canadian if I could. I made a list of brands I wanted to try and instead of buying everything at once I wanted to pace myself and use up what I had so that products wouldn't be sitting around unused (and unloved). One Toronto-based brand that caught my eye was thanks to an episode of Dragon's Den for Three Ships Beauty. Founded by two women, Laura and Connie sought to create 100% natural skincare that was results-driven, effective and at an affordable price point. Now, over the years the word "natural" has meant less and less to me, but "results" still perk my interest. Three Ships also has a fairly comprehensive glossary of the ingredients they use and why which I very much appreciate! Though today's review is just for their newest lip products, I did purchase a couple of cleansers and toners so I will review those later on!
NAILS | Coronavirus Halloween Nail Art #CBBxManiMonday
SHEET MASK | Steambase Black Sugar Intensive Recovery Mask
NAILS | Autumn Owl Nail Art #CBBxManiMonday
SHEET MASK | Neostrata Pure Hyaluronic Acid Biocellulose Mask
NAILS | Fall Leaves #CBBxManiMonday
Hope everyone got out there to vote in Canada today! I was originally going to get this done with advanced voting last week, but I was too tired after work and then with Hugo's surgery happening on the 13th I was just too mentally preoccupied. I also didn't really know who to vote for...I usually have a pretty good idea of what platform I agree with, but I was waffling. Today I knew what to do so my husband and I walked to the polls and enjoyed some decent weather as the polling station that was assigned to us was like 20 blocks away!
SHEET MASK | Vivlas Luxury Prestige, Premium Rose and Special Platinum Foil Masks
NAILS | Quo Beauty XTreme FX in "Happy Go Lucky" and Weekly Catch Up
MAKEUP | Avon x fmg Limited Edition Colors of Love Collection
NAILS | Bi-Colour Fall #CBBxManiMonday
I am a ball of nerves today as my kitty Hugo heads in for dental surgery. I know this type of thing is fairly routine, but I always feel so badly bringing my cats to the vet in general and then having him need to go under and deal with the post-op pain just makes me feel so sorry for him. He just needs one tooth extracted as I noticed last year that it was red and bleeding in the gum area, but he also needs a cleaning. He only just turned 7 so he's a young guy and will probably be fine, but still I can't help worrying!
SHEET MASK | Leaders in Solution Daily Wonders Masks
NAILS | Cirque Colors Game Over and Weekly Catch Up
Well, hello there! I think I will use these nail swatch posts as a guise to do more of a journal entry where I talk all about the "hot goss" in my life. Riiiight, as if there is much adventure going on in my life right now! I am still one of those people who isn't going out much though I did recently venture out to a friend's place to hang out for the day and she was the first person I had visited outside of my work bubble since the start of the pandemic! I'm not normally a social person so the pandemic has definitely fed into my natural desire to be alone and lemme tell ya, I have been eating it up! I have always found my day job socially quite draining so having all of my free time to decompress the last 18 months has truly felt so good. I still get tired, but I am nowhere near the level of mental exhaustion I used to be at. I also have a new outlook on blogging, Instagram and PR which has calmed me down when it comes to always posting, always blogging, always trying to get product and running around like a madwoman trying to do it all!
SKINCARE | Antipodes Baptise H20 Ultra Hydrating Water Gel and Culture Probiotic Night Recovery Water Cream
NAILS | Not Quite Ready to Say Hello to Fall Shades #CBBxManiMonday
SHEET MASK | 23 Years Old Cocoon Gold Silky Mask
Going back to the beginnings of my sheet mask obsession, the 23 Years Old Cocoon Gold Silky Mask was one of the first brands AND masks to pop up as "must try" on my radar as at the time it was one of the few masks I had seen made of a super silky and thin material. Even just reading the name of the mask and the words "cocoon" and "silky" - you immediately want this on your face!
NAILS | Cirque Colors Electric Daisy Swatch and Life Chat
MAKEUP | Clarins Frozen Summer Makeup Collection
I have been sitting on this review for longer than I have wanted to solely because I wanted to get my face on and show you a full makeup look with everything, but let's face it. Summer is almost over and the days I have off are spent enjoying the sunshine, reading a book or puttering around the house so putting on a full face of makeup is something I don't want to do on my days off. What I can say is that I have been using almost everything in the Clarins Frozen Makeup Collection along with a few of their new skincare products from the My Clarins line and really enjoying them! I hadn't used Clarins in a long time and it felt nice to come home to a beauty brand staple. I know you want to see more photo spam as the packaging for this year's collection was just screaming "Happy Summer!" so let's get to it!