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! 

Some polishes PR samples

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! 

Press sample

MAKEUP | Pixi On-the-Glow Blush with Swatches

It has been more than a year since I have featured any form of cheek product here and when I did some digging, the last time I reviewed a blush was back in April 2020 when I was at home on lockdown and off work! For the most part, I haven't really been wearing blush at all as it seems a shame to put it on in the morning only to have it rub off with my face mask that I need to wear starting from 9am to 6pm. Maybe I need to use a new setting spray and/or a sticky primer, but blush has certainly not been a priority in the last year. However, that doesn't mean I have stopped admiring the pretty blush products that get released and when I saw the cuteness of the new Pixi Beauty On-the-Glow Blushes, I couldn't resist getting some photos and swatches done!

Press samples

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.

Purchased by me

SHEET MASK | Holler and Glow Get Lit and Hangover SOS Masks

I am attempting to make life a little more interesting this month by wearing mostly printed masks in honour of Halloween! I have had to take a bit of a break from sheet masks the last week or so as I started getting some weird dry patches on my chin. My skin does not misbehave very often so when it does, I take my skincare back to basics and just use cleanser, toner and a very bland moisturizer. In this case, I stuck to a rosewater toner and Teaology Happy Balm until things cleared up which they finally did yesterday. This means, more printed masks as of tonight!

Gifted from a friend

NAILS | Picture Polish "Alice" Swatch and Weekly Catch Up

In my last weekly nail catch up post, I said "I'm going to be super busy next week so might not do one of these" and now one month later here I am! My days off never lined up with blogging and I always needed to do house things instead, but this week I had the gift of three days off IN A ROW just by chance so here we are with a whopping 4th blog post this week! 

Purchased by me

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.

Purchased by me

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!  

Purchased by me

SHEET MASK | Mad Beauty Disney with Minnie Mouse and Princess Jasmine

Happy Thanksgiving weekend! My work is actually closed on Sunday and Monday which is great since we all get a nice little weekend where we know that nothing is happening at the store and there isn't this sense of FOMO. I have been wanting to try Mad Beauty sheet masks as over the years they have come out with some very cute printed sheet masks with Disney themes. They are not easily available though and the only place online I have seen them is on Amazon.com, but then a few weeks ago, while visiting a friend in Coquitlam we them on a little beauty excursion to Wal-mart! They only had two so just for the sake of trying them, I had to grab 'em!

Purchased by me

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!   

Press samples

NAILS | Coronavirus Halloween Nail Art #CBBxManiMonday

I love Halloween nail art, but after 10 years of doing nail art here, I'm starting to feel like I am just repeating the same things over and over again so I thought I would try something new this week and go with a new thing that has scared us all - COVID-19! Yes, you will still see some of the traditional Halloween things like pumpkins, monsters and blood, but hopefully inspiration will strike and I can find a new way to reinvent these timeless classics!

Some polishes are press samples and are indicated with a *

SHEET MASK | Steambase Black Sugar Intensive Recovery Mask

I didn't realize I had taken a week long absence from the blog until I realized it was Friday (my 10 year blogaversary) and I hadn't posted anything since CBBxManiMonday! I guess I am still recovering a little bit from the week before and I have just been wanting to take a bit more time for myself. Lately, I have taken on Diamond Painting as a new hobby! It's like paint-by-numbers, but with these little coloured studs or "diamonds" that are individually placed onto a sticky canvas. Kills your neck, back and eyes so make sure you do small sections and have plenty of light!

Purchased by me