SKINCARE | New Pacifica Beauty Travel Minis!

Press samples

I would just like to say that I have not had the time/energy to generate more than 10 blog posts per month other than a few times last year, but from January to March of this year, I have managed to do it! I can't believe that at my blogging peak, I was doing 20 posts a month! I look back on that now and find that to be utterly insane! Granted these last three months, my work schedule has been ever so slightly easier due to sprinkling some "need to use" vacation days before the end of our fiscal year. No complaints though I will admit that many of those days off have been used to work on things for my day job up until about 2 weeks ago.

NAILS | Oscar the Grouch #CBBxManiMonday

One press sample*

My baby nails are still growing their way back to fullness so I was sort of at a loss for what to do for today's last day of green manicures. I suddenly thought of Oscar the Grouch and then found this manicure from 2 years ago from @aculednails on RedditLaqueristas and thought I would give it a go!

SKINCARE | East 29th Valia Cleanser and Verse Lotion Mist

Purchased by me

It has been far too long since I have featured this lovely Vancouver-based brand on the blog, but if you have not tried East 29th's Vital Serum, you and your skin are missing out! Since being introduced to the product via East 29th owner, Victoria Ferguson, I have gone through 4 bottles of it and absolutely do not plan on stopping! For a little while, this was their only product, but then came the Valia Cleanser and Verse Lotion Mist which I am finally going to review today!

BODY | Sol de Janiero Bom Dia Bright Jet Set

Purchased by me. 

While I do enjoy the Sol de Janiero Bum Bum Cream collection and the Cheirosa 62 scent, my husband does not. He finds it quite intense (I mean, he's not wrong) and starts to sneeze in the office so I only use my Bum Bum Cream products if he's on a work trip. During the last Sephora VIB Event in November, I decided to try the Bom Dia Bright collection and its Cheirosa 40 scent in the hopes that it would be more tame for my husband.

NAILS | NerdLacquer Crunchy Frog Swatch #CBBxManiMonday

 

Purchased by me

Happy Monday everyone! For the first time in awhile, I am actually writing this on a Monday as I am off today and a few more days this week which is kind of nice! Awhile ago, I had wanted to redo a few of the swatches/nail posts I had written over 10 years ago now that my lighting is better and NerdLacquer's Crunchy Frog was one of them!

SHEET MASK | Dermovia Rice Sake Matcha Hydrating Facial Mask

Purchased by me

Have we all recovered from DST yet and jumping forward? I swear it takes my body SO LONG to catch up now because I can never fall asleep at night, but then wake up feeling like death in the morning. What is exciting (for me) is that BC has decided that this is the last time we will be changing out clocks! We will have permanent DST which I love, but I also understand will be very confusing come November when all the other provinces "Fall Back" and we don't. Well, I guess the time difference will be smaller and maybe easier to work with when it comes to Teams calls for work or chatting with the in-laws!

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

 

Some press samples

I have not painted my nails in a month and I missed it! As you can see, my nails are much shorter than usual as they have been suffering from multiple breakages in the last few weeks. They have been really weak and my cuticles have also been a bit of a mess so it's going to take some time for them to come back, but at least they have some shape to them for me to do a bit of nail art for St. Patrick's Day! 

SHEET MASK | Aceology Frose Infusion Gel Mask

Purchased by me

I keep saying that I won't buy more sheet masks and then I see something cute and fun and cannot resist! I saw these Aceology Frose Infusion Gel Masks as an Ipsy add-on and they were just a really great price! Normally, a SINGLE mask is $19.99 USD, but Ipsy was selling a pack of 4 for just $13 USD and they did not disappoint!

SKINCARE | FirstBase Skincare Clean Slate Cleanser

Press sample

It may be Friday, the 13th, but we're not going to let ANY bad things happen on this day because we are going to wash away alllll the bad juju with this glorious FirstBase Skincare Clean Slate Cleanser!

HAIR | SEEN Shampoo and Conditioner - Haircare that Equals Skincare!

 

Press samples

Have you ever thought of good skincare as having good haircare as well? That's what dermatologist-developed brand is all about! Developed by Dr. Iris Rubin, SEEN promotes both healthy hair and skin and is especially the answer for those suffering with eczema, sensitive skin on the face and scalp and autoimmune diseases. Instead of hiding because of reactive skin or hair, this haircare brand let's you be SEEN!

SKINCARE | TIRTIR 5 Actives Power Serums Kit

 Provided by YesStyle Glow Up Giveaway. Affiliate link.   

Twice per week, YesStyle offers an assortment of products that can be claimed on their website and added for free to your order of $29+. You can only choose one product and they sell out fairly quickly so when I wanted to place an order, I waited for a product I wanted to try on the Glow Up Giveaway and saw this set of TIRTIR Power Serums and had to try it! The product you choose needs to be reviewed within 2 months which is the perfect amount of time to see what these serums can do!

SHEET MASK | Black Timeless Control Clarifying Truth Mask

Press sample

I feel like I am almost working part-time this month as we are trying to use up some of my vacation days before the end of the fiscal year wraps up since we can only carry over so many days. I had a whopping 10 days that I needed to use which is crazy considering I have never run into this problem before and then we realized that now that my work environment is relatively pleasant, I haven't felt the need to get away! I vowed to myself that I would use this time to get back on track when it came to blogging, but I've actually been working from home as there is a sales target I would like to meet for work and though it's not a big deal for me if I make it or not, it's just something I personally would like to see on my file!

MAKEUP | Victoria Beckham by Augustinus Bader The Foundation Drops with TFC8

Purchased by me. Affiliate links.

While I have plenty of foundation to last a few lifetimes, I can never resist trying a bougie new formula especially when it comes from Posh Spice herself! Victoria Beckham Beauty has yet to let me down on any of the products I have purchased so when the "skin-first" Foundation Drops with TFC8 launched at Holt Renfrew last Fall, I had to pick it up during the Holt's client shopping event!

EMPTIES | Jan + Feb 2026

While I usually feature my monthly empties on Instagram Stories, I thought I would try a blog post just to get my writing juices flowing again! Instead of doing little reviews of each empty like the traditional Empties reviews of yore which took an incredibly long time to do, I will instead write a little blurb on what was notable - good and/or bad! 

 

Some items are press samples

Starting with skincare, I finished four full-sized products with the Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Essence being my 6th bottle so it will continue to be a skincare staple! The Vichy Mineral 89 Booster is kind of like a serum, but I treat it more like an essence as there aren't necessarily any active ingredients. but it does create a hydrated canvas for layering additional products. The East 29th Vitamin C Serum is one of my all-time favourite serums, so I already have two in my backup stash!