BEAUTY | October 2024 Ipsy Glam Bag

Purchased by me

I am well aware that it is June, but hear me out! With the Canada Post strike at the beginning of November, this bag actually arrived AFTER my November Ipsy! Now, with Tariff War 2025 happening, I have slowed down my Ipsy subscription (they only let you skip every other month) in order to avoid the exchange rate and focusing less on American goods. When I did start using the October Ipsy bag I did notice that almost every product felt more suited to NOW than October so it all worked out!

NAILS | Mermaid Scales #CBBxManiMonday

 

Press samples

I am very excited to share today's mani with you because it is the first time I get to try BKIND's nail polishes! BKIND is a Quebec-based, woman-owned, vegan and plant-based beauty brand and in today's economy and trade war sitch, I am all about supporting Canadian brands! While I will have a separate post for BKIND's hair products and skincare, the nail polishes were the first products I literally GRABBED!

NAILS | Dior Coral Pop with Butterflies #CBBxManiMonday

 

Purchased by me

June is here and we are officially halfway through 2025! How crazy is that? The last 6 months has absolutely flown by both at work and in my personal life and I am looking forward to summer! My birthday is in a month which means vacation and annual birthday shopping spree is coming up so lots to look forward to. It has also been 6 month at work where for the first time in YEARS, I am actually enjoying the "managing people" part of my job in terms of educating the staff by putting together what I think are fun features and benefits emails, but for jewelry! It is the first time I have ever seen anyone do this in our location and I can only hope that the staff find this information useful. We have almost the perfect team and I say that in the sense that we have half a team of people who are keen to learn and care and the other half who are riding this job out until retirement so it is extremely hard to get ANYTHING from them. They make mistake and they don't really care to improve or apologize, BUT they are the most senior members of the team and currently the most knowledgeable since everyone else is so new. This situation is definitely loads better than the having the awful and toxic employee we used to have (thank God she left in December!), but still leaves us with questions on how to move forward.

SHEET MASK | Jumiso HelloSkin Chewy Elasticity Mask

Press sample

I wasn't feeling well almost all of last week. I had a headache for a week and even today I am still feeling it in bits and pieces. My guess is that it was mainly due to weather pressure as the humidity in Vancouver has been on the higher side, but waking and going to be with a sinus/pressure headache has sucked! We had a really intense work day last Sunday when we all came in while the store was closed to do a massive visual merchandising project that had us opening hundreds of boxes and disposing of them. It was a lot of physical work that left us all exhausted the next Monday morning. I was SUPER grumpy and pretty much kept to myself the next day just doing more paperwork than people things. I think it's time for a much needed vacation! 

SHEET MASK | Peace Out Overnight Bio-Collagen Recovery Mask

Purchased by me. Affiliate links. 

It seems like the most viral sheet masks right now are the ones that become clear while you wear them overnight and though I have the famous Biodance ones to review, I picked up the Peace Out Overnight Bio-Collagen Recovery Mask during the Sephora VIB event because I always love trying new sheet masks and now that Sephora does not carry as many, I definitely jump at the chance when I see one!

MAKEUP | L'Oreal Paradise Big Deal Mascara (Definitely NOT a Big Deal For Me!)

Press sample. Affiliate links.

I very rarely discuss mascara on here because even though it is a product I use daily, there are very few that manage to make my little lashes look substantial and today is no different. If anything, this is the first mascara I have tried in a long time that had such a minimal result that I wanted to talk about it! A little backwards when you think about how most beauty reviews work, but I was indeed amazed just in the opposite direction!

NAILS | Cirque Colors Flower Power (Thermal) #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

I had to work on this holiday Monday so I only just painted my nails about an hour ago, BUT I was determined to have a timely #CBBxManiMonday post for once! I had some grand plans for full on nail art, but I have been pretty upset all day because of what happened to Evelyn (my 21 year old car). We have to park on the street and when I went out this morning to go to work, I saw that someone had hit her and taken out my driver's side mirror in the process! Now, I've got to deal with getting her fixed up even though we have also been wanting to get a new car as well. I think the mirror will be cheap enough to replace as it's not like I can suddenly get a new car this week, but it's just such a bummer because of the unexpected expense AND because I feel so badly for my baby!

SHEET MASK | BRING GREEN Young Hee Fresh Mask Squid Game Edition

Purchased by me

I survived my week of a mild cold, but it's amazing how even a mild sickness like that can hinder my energy levels. I did not take any sick days, but when I was at work, I still tried my best to stick to a my minimum 10K steps a day and stay busy which may be why I feel utterly exhausted now that I have a day off! I really tried to stick to a decent skincare routine though and made it a point to make sure I used this horrifying Bring Green Young Hee Fresh Mask so that I could show you all what it looks like!

NAILS | Polka Dot Pink #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

It is now evident that I have a cold and even on Day 6, I am still exhibiting more and more congestion and now coughing. Most of the time, colds move WAY more quickly than this and I should be at the recovery stage by now, but instead I am wasting my beautiful 3-day vacation trying to do the things I had planned on doing, like walks in the sunshine and blogging, and sleeping when my body says it has to. And the worst part is that I don't know where I caught this from! No one at work is sick, my husband isn't sick and it doesn't seem to cold season. I feel like my body just invented this to tell me to rest even though I don't think I have been putting it through too much to begin with! I felt crappy enough to say to myself, "Jayne, you need to at least do your nails for today!" 

SHEET MASK | Banobagi Gold Propolis and Baby Face Injection Masks

Press samples

I am currently at home fighting off a silly spring cold that has been the slowest at making its way through my body as it started with a faint sore throat on Thursday and then now I am sniffly and coughing a bit. It hasn't progressed more than that, but I am still very sneezy and itchy. I am really trying to baby myself because I have a facial booked at Skoah tomorrow that I have REALLY been looking forward to for the last two weeks so I will see how it goes tomorrow and if I have to reschedule my appointment, so be it, but I will be so sad.

HAIR | L'Oreal Paris Glycolic Gloss Routine

Press samples 

I have been hesitant to review haircare since dying my hair purple since it is a bit of a routine to keep up with the colour, but now that the colour is seriously fading, I have been planning to go back to blonde/mushroom brown balayage around June. This means, my urge to hang on to my purple is not as intense so it felt like a good time to try some new hair stuff starting with drugstore great L'Oreal with their new Glycolic Gloss Collection!

NAILS | Cadbury Mini Eggs #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples 

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend! I only had the Sunday off and I am working today as well so as always, there is no rest for those in retail! On the plus side, I am taking my Stat this week as well as one carry over Vacation Day so I am only working THREE days this week! I look forward to walks and sleeping in!

MAKEUP | Urban Decay Face Bond Foundation #FoundationFriday

Gifted by This is Butterly. Affiliate links.

It has been six months since my last foundation review and I have to say that in my early 40s, the only makeup I seem to be consistently wanting to try is foundation because it feels like an extension of my skincare routine. If anything, better skin means I can get away with a lower coverage and maintenance foundation! Last year, I was finally chosen for a makeup product review through Butterly (I've found that once I hit my mid-30s, the makeup campaigns became far and few between) for the Urban Decay Face Bond Foundation.

SHEET MASK | VT Radiance Glutathione Wrapping Steam Mask

Purchased by me

I was so good about keeping up with my Sheet Mask Sunday posts and then I don't know what happened! I think I was super bummed out by what was happening down south and the issues it was causing all of us that it just didn't feel appropriate to talk about beauty stuff. Now, that things have settled down into a baseline state of uncertainty, my brain has adjusted to this "new norm" and I want to talk about skincare and makeup again. The sunshine is also helping now that Vancouver is well into Spring (sorry people out East with your snow) so potentially you might see more regular posting from me now because I miss it here!

NAILS | Bright Flowers #CBBxManiMonday

Some press samples. Affiliate links.

I never thought I would become this kind of blogger where I'm in this space once a week, but life has me TIRED. Nothing is wrong in anyway, but I feel like stamina-wise, I just don't have the same willpower and energy levels as 5-10 years ago. It's not even like people don't read blogs for reviews. I still consistently have 10K views on skincare and foundation reviews especially, but I always seem to run out of time or energy during the day. I have also been really focused on my job the last 6 months as I have been having a good time with my clients and really wanting to take care of them which takes time. I also had the second highest sales in our store which is saying something considering I am not on the sales floor! The last three months have been considerably better in terms of focus now that our employee from hell is no longer with us and sucking the life out of me and everyone else!

NAILS | Money Nails #CBBxManiMonday

 

Purchased by me

For this week's last week of green nails, I was kind of at a loss because once again, I was feeling quite lazy with what I wanted to do. What I did have a craving for was digging out my OPI 18K white gold flakes as I was feeling bougie after my little Dior shopping spree last Friday!

NAILS | Inspired by Pacifica Beauty Scalp Love #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples marked with *

I was looking for inspiration for this week's #CBBxManiMonday when I suddenly looked at the Pacifica Beauty Scalp Love serum I have been using like crazy and realized just how PRETTY the bottle was! It was also incredibly convenient that it matched our theme of "Green" for the month!

SKINCARE | Leaders Cosmetics 3X Boosting Collagen Modeling Mask

Press sample

Don't we all love a good modeling mask? While they are more messy, they are intended to be more of a treatment and if you really love skincare, it gives you a chance to have your "mad scientist" moment! The modeling masks I have used previously were just the mask alone, but Leaders Cosmetics now has three new multi-step modeling mask kits in Collagen, Vitamin C and Tea Tree for a full skincare routine and only for $7 each!

SKINCARE | Pelegrims Hand Pomade

Sample for work

In trying to get more motivated to create some blog content again, I was thinking back to when I used to do themes for the month to stay focused and "green" seemed like a nice and open-ended theme since that could include plant-based products, green packaging and of course green makeup (I don't know if I will be doing this!). Granted, we are already at the END of the month and I have only uploaded four blog posts, but we shall see how I do!   

NAILS | Happy St. Paddy's Day! #CBBxManiMonday

Press sample marked with *

I am on time for once! I think the days of me doing complicated nail art are definitely over as much as I wish I could go back in time and get the patience I used to have. I have been a bit stressed since last night as I lost my crown for a SECOND time while I was flossing. It was still hanging on my a thread so I shoved it back in and texted my dentist to ask for an emergency appointment on Wednesday when I was off work. Thankfully, he managed to fit me in and hopefully a new crown will be the way forward after only having this current one for 6 years before it fell out once last year, again last month and then again last night. I have been SO careful about what I eat so I really don't know what's going on. From what I have been told, crowns are supposed to last like 10-20 years!

BEAUTY | January 2025 Ipsy Glam Bag

 

Purchased by me

In light of trying to support Canada, I have decided to cut my Ipsy subscription in half and do it every other month. I still get excited when the products arrive as they are all usually new to me so I would still like to have the subscription if I can. I have slowed down on beauty purchases a lot since the beginning of the year as I have been purchasing Pixyls and diamond paintings so I think having a little bimonthly surprise is acceptable!

NAILS | Teal French #CBBxManiMonday

 

One press sample

Today marks the first time in almost a month that I have painted my nails! They kept breaking and then I was on vacation and decided to give them a bit of a break. Honestly, I also just haven't felt like anything beauty. I have been quite bummed, like many Canadians, about what is happening with the US and unlike the first time he was elected, this time feels worse. No one is standing up for what's right and the actual thought of Canada being annexed could actually happen if our economy slowly starts to shrink. It's all very depressing and my ultimate Dystopian nightmare would be if this actually led to war between the US and Canada! Like, how crazy would that be in the 21st century?! This means that right now, we are literally in the history books as the trade war has already started (unprovoked). 

SHEET MASK | Hello Kitty Shining Star Sheet Mask

Purchased by me

It's March. Holy moly it's MARCH and spring is already around the corner! DST is next Sunday and we are already out of the dark days of winter and looking forward to more daylight and summer weather. Time is moving too quickly and for the last few months, I feel like I have been on the edge of my seat waiting for something to happen. Is it because Trump and Elon Musk are now running Canada's closest allies (I don't even know if this is true anymore)? I know I have definitely been more on edge since he came back into power and world moves into a direction where people I know seem perfectly fine with Canada being the 51st state...like what?! 

SKINCARE | Leaders Green Collagen Eye Cream for Face

Press sample

Look at me! I am on a blogging roll! It's amazing what a few days of rest can do for the mind and body and though my physical body needed A LOT of recovery after FanExpo, I have been taking it very easy doing little chores around the house and remembering what it is like to feel somewhat human. One of the things that has been severely delayed since December has been my Leaders Cosmetics reviews. I have a number of fun things to showcase from this Korean brand and I think this is the week I finally catch up!

FRAGRANCE | CLEAN Reserve Whipped Cherry EDP

Sample provided by Butterly

For those of you who participate in Butterly campaigns, I know we are only supposed to post on our social media and then upload a review on the Butterly or brand website, but for some reason I really felt compelled to add on a blog post. Maybe I am feeling nostalgic about blogging this week since I have more time to myself or maybe it's because CLEAN was one of the first fragrances I had in my perfume collection. It's probably a combination of the two, but either way I felt like giving this 3mL rollerball sample some love.

NAILS | Rainbow Honey My Girl Swatch #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me sooooooo long ago!

Let's start by saying that my nails have gone through hell and are once again growing back from stumps. One nail was already about to break in this photo, but I sort of patched it up with nail polish. I knew it was only a matter of time though before it fully broke and a few days later that's exactly what happened! I have little nubbins now, but they should be somewhat grown back by next Monday for our month of green. 

SHEET MASK | VT Cosmetics PDRN Hydrogel Mask

Purchased by me

It's hard to believe that I have not written a blog post in 2 weeks, but honestly this month just whizzed right on by! One minute it felt like the beginning of February and now we are at the end and it has been a very busy month! I have also preferred doing Pixyls and diamond painting in my free time rather than blogging hence the lack of posts this month as the struggle has been REAL to sit down and talk about beauty. Also, the world is kind of crap right now which is further added to me just wanting to retreat into my little hobby hole.

NAILS | Dior #999 #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

Forgive the lack of posts again, but I had a very long weekend with Inventory at work and I pretty much crashed around 4pm for a 2 hour nap and then just wanted to diamond paint and do Pixyls all night long. Thankfully, I have today off so I was able to head out and run some errands at London Drugs as well as pick up a press package from UPS. I have not had the urge to sit down and do my nails just yet (I still have not decided on my design for today) so I am cheating a little with sharing this swatch of Dior 999, but for a red, white and pink theme this month I think 999 takes the cake in terms of iconic shades in the luxury beauty space!

BEAUTY | November 2024 Ipsy Glam Bag

 

Purchased by me

I am well aware that it is now February 2025 and I am talking about a November Ipsy Bag, but with the Canada Post strike, I did not receive this until last month! I was convinced that it was never going to show up, but what actually happened was that my husband was notified of a package for himself through Canada Post's Flexdelivery and when he got to the post office, they said there was another package for the same address addressed to me. Turns out it was this Glam Bag! I usually get notified, but I am guessing that once CP was mandated back to work, there were packages that slipped through the cracks. I have the December Ipsy Glam Bag to review for you as well as it arrived also last month, but I have decide to pause my subscription for a bit to get through a few products and save the money as the exchange rate is total crap now and I would rather not be spending US dollars if I don't have to. 

NAILS | Candy Hearts #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

It is currently STILL snowy, cold (-2 degrees) and I am finding it very cozy as I am off today, but yesterday was a little uncomfortable in the store and tomorrow will likely be as well. I just picked up a pair of skin-coloured fleece-lined tights which definitely helped in keeping me warm, but I would love to have an entire skin suit lined with fleece for the next few days!

SHEET MASK | Pelegrims Grape Leaf Sheet Mask

Purchased by me

This is coming a little late, but Vancouver had its first snowfall today and my husband and I took some time to enjoy it by going out for a walk and then having a cozy day in. I actually spent it decluttering my clothes for a combination of donation to Big Brother and selling on Poshmark. Let's just say I got rid of A LOT of hangers and made a good amount of space for what I am hoping for are some quality clothing purchases that will last me the next 10 years!

SKINCARE | Glow Recipe Fruit Babies

Purchased by me

In true Jayne fashion, I have been sitting on this Glow Recipe review for awhile partly because I find it incredibly difficult now to spend my nights blogging after working for 10 hours in retail AND because I kept having to take breaks from certain products because would start to look "off". Last summer, while I was on my birthday staycation, I started feeling the excitement of blogging again and wanting to do little mini reviews of certain products that I had been wanting to try. 

NAILS | Chunky Glitter Tips #CBBxManiMonday

Press sample

It feels like it has been a hot minute since I did my nails, but in actuality, it has only been one week since I last painted them, but it was enough that clients of mine even commented that my nails were naked! My left hand aka "the photo hand" has long and lovely nails, but my right hand is a complete mess. The nails are so short that my skin is exposed and I have hangnails galore. The weather has been so dry that everything has been flaking and peeling. 

SKINCARE | Dr. Althea Pure Grinding Cleansing Balm #LunarJanuary

Purchased by me

I need a cleansing balm like I need another "neutral palette", but for some reason I was immediately taken in by the Dr. Althea Pure Grinding Cleansing Balm. Though I do not believe Dr. Althea is the first to do this type of mechanism, I liked the brand's sheet masks and the fact that I could purchase this through my favourite Korean online beauty store Bellbees. 

SHEET MASK | VT Cosmetics Reedle Shot All in One 3 Step Mask

Purchased by me

Happy Sunday! I know I am starting to sound like a broken record, but how are we already at the end of January? For the 6 weeks, I have been using Reedle Shot 100 as the first step in my night time skincare routine and I have honestly noticed an actual improvement in my skin texture! I plan on doing a separate review for the Reedle Shot treatment, but this sheet mask is a start!

NAILS | Mocha "Moose" Nail Art #CBBxManiMonday

Press samples

I still have my baby nails, but I could not wait any longer to do these Mocha "Moose" nails! As many of you know, the Pantone colour of the year this year is "Mocha Mousse" which is a soft, contemporary brown. It's kind of nice to see a "normal" colour this year as the previous Pantone colours have been quite bright. Last year's Peach Fuzz looked awful on me so I tried a few manicures and left it all behind once January was over!

SHEET MASK | Innisfree Oatmeal Energy Mask

Given by a client

I love it when clients know what you REALLY love! These masks were given by a client who had just come back from Korea and although Innisfree is another iconic Korean brand, I have never actually reviewed anything from them on this blog! These sheet masks were the perfect opportunity to change that!

NAILS | Sally Hansen Satin Glam in Taffeta #CBBxManiFriday

Purchased by me

As you can see, I have baby nails (for me) as I had to chop everything off after suffering 6 broken nails! The December season was not kind to my nails and I am hoping they grow FAST so I can do some beautiful nail art on them! I went with a blast from the past today with this polish from the Sally Hansen Satin Glam collection from 2014. I had yet to even try this polish so while my nails are growing back, it called to me as a swatch!

SHEET MASK | Mediheal N.M.F. Nude Gel Mask #LunarJanuary

Purchased by me

I found these new Mediheal masks while I was shopping at Holt Renfrew as they now carry a decent selection of Kbeauty at affordable pricing! It seems a bit unusual for a luxury department store to be carrying sheet masks for $3, but I am not complaining! Now, I can pick up Dior as well as the latest in Korean skincare all in one place which is both convenient and dangerous!

SHEET MASK | It's Skin Fresh Mask: Blueberry, Bamboo, Aloe and Carrot

Purchased by me

Happy New Year! 2025 feels like it came out of nowhere, but we made it to another year and I am glad to be able to experience another year trying to live my best life. At the end of this month is the Lunar New Year which means another round of #LunarJanuary meaning that I try to feature as many Asian brands as possible on the blog. My plan is to try and feature MORE cool sheet masks and different beauty products from Asia or Asian-owned brands, but as I am also trying to do do a low-buy this month I will be shopping my stash which quite frankly is large enough that it is almost like going out and buying stuff!