NAILS | Purple Polka Dots #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

This doesn't look like a Fall manicure, but both of these shades are from the OPI Fall Wonders 2022 collection! There is also a bright coral shade in the collection as well so it just goes to show that sometimes Fall collections aren't necessarily all vampy shades. With losing a week to Covid last week and playing catch up at my day job, the blog has been a hard one to maintain and now with the holiday season revving up, I doubt I am going to be able to get back into the swing of things for blogging. I have one or two holiday things to discuss, but other than that, I have left it all very open-ended as I don't like to put a ton of pressure on myself for December. Getting sick for the first time in a long time was enough of a reminder to take care of myself!

NAILS | Chocolate and Gold #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

I have a good excuse this time for such a late #CBBxManiMonday post and that is that I finally caught the Covid. I started feeling under the weather over the weekend, but tested negative and then progressively developed a sore throat, cough and more congestion and then by Sunday had my two lines. As of yesterday night, I am still testing positive, but feeling a little better. It probably was the worst week to get sick as there is just so much going on. I just dread the amount of catch up I will have to do when I get back to work as there was only so much I could field at home through email feeling how I felt the first few days. Today is the first day where I have been able to stay conscious for more than a few hours without wanting to crawl into bed.

SHEET MASK | Pyunkang Yul Black Tea Revitalizing Mask

Purchased by me

Pyunkang Yul has been on my to-try list ever since its launch in 2016 because of their holistic take on skincare and their gentle, but efficient products for all skin types. The other reason I was interested in the brand was because it was created by the Pyunkang Korean Medine Hospital, a Korean traditional medicine clinic in Seoul specializing in atopic skin disorders. I always find it fascinating that there are a number of Korean skincare brands born out of clinics or hospitals. If only there was a L'oreal Medical Hospital! 

EXPERIENCE | Getting Dermaplaned and a Lash Lift and Tint at Mint Smilebar

Completely bare face with basic skincare and sunscreen. 

The act of face shaving or eliminating the fine peach fuzz on the face is something I was taught to do as a young teenager. My mom often picked up face shavers at the Asian grocery stores and though I never did my entire face, I have always kept these little razors in my bathroom for cleaning up around the moustache area. I love watching facial services on YouTube as a form of relaxation and when I came across dermaplaning, I started looking into whether there were any places in Vancouver I could get this done. Obviously, Instagram read my thoughts and started recommending Vancouver-based Mint Smilebar through my ads and as they were doing a promotion in combination with a lash lift, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get it done!

NAILS | Fall Nails aka Star Trek Uniform Colours? #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

I have been trying to showcase as many Fall nail polish shades as possible, but let me tell ya, as pretty as they all are, I often have a hard time figuring out what to pair together so when I put together this manicure using this year's OPI Fall Wonders collection, I thought "wow, these shades seem so cohesive!" and it wasn't until the next day that I realized the reason I liked this combination. These are the uniform colours of officers on Star Trek! Red (those in command), Gold (engineering), Blue (science) and Grey (ensign)! I am a Star Trek fan so I guess my brain subconsciously picked this combination of shades!

SHEET MASK | The Creme Shop My Melody Softer than Cookies Sheet Mask

Purchased by me

This is the LAST mask of my The Creme Shop x Sanrio haul from a lifetime ago and oddly enough the expiration date for these masks that I purchased way back in October 2018 was this year so I think that's why I kept putting off reviewing them. I just thought I had all of this time! Truthfully, there are so many more cool sheet masks that I would like to still review that have probably long been discontinued, but the crazy person in me feels that I owe to my love of sheet masks to give them a post! 

HAIR | Chi Essentials Keratin and Bonding Collection

Press samples

It has been ages since I have reviewed some haircare as it is actually one of my favourite categories of beauty to test out after skincare! I try to test out new things every month, but with September being #SampleSeptember, I focused on using up my little deluxe haircare sizes and then October just got too busy, but for the past month or so, I have been using Chi Essentials Keratin and Bonding Collection and have had a hard time giving it up to move on to another brand!

NAILS | Biosculpture Lake Louise and Spectrolite #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples 

It has been a busy last few weeks and now for the month of November, I have a number of social engagements related to my job as my title will be changing a bit in a few weeks. It's a good thing, but being naturally introverted, I know that my energy levels will be very delicate after back to back events and "schmoozing". I hope I can survive and I will try to take as many "mental health" days as possible. Then I feel that especially for those of us who work in the retail world, from November to the end of the year, it's just go go go. I will welcome a quiet January 2023 with open arms! 

SHEET MASK | Pure Smile Edo Art Face Mask Set

Given as a gift

For last month, I tried to use more printed masks in October in honour of Halloween and the ones I was most looking forward to using were these Edo Art Face Masks from Pure Smile! Pure Smile actually does quite a few printed masks with some really good patterns and kabuki prints are one of them so when my husband's coworker went to Japan, she picked these up for me!

NAILS | OPI Infinite Shine Clean Slate Swatch and Midweek Catch Up

Press sample

I felt like October was the longest month ever. I feel like a lot happened last month. I finally got my hair done which is always a bit of a production as I do my balayage once a year with my favourite Civello stylist, but he is a 45 minute drive from where I live so not exactly the closest. It's also what I call a very "active" drive meaning that there is no highway involved and I am forced to go through downtown where there is currently no shortage of construction and detours. I generally don't enjoy driving so I always have to mentally prepare for our 4 hour sessions knowing that after sitting in a car for an hour, I will be sitting again.