NAILS | Marimekko x Clinique Inspired #CBBxManiMonday

It feels like only yesterday that I was typing up my Canada Day ManiMonday and now we are FULL ON into July which seems ridiculously fast! Earlier this evening I had this sudden pang of "Oh God, holiday collections will be showcased in August!" The summer is just so short and I feel like I have so much planned and so little time to do it in -like finding the perfect lounge chair for the balcony or trying to find time to go to the beach! My body has not seen a bikini in 2 seasons now because I've just been either busy at work or busy at home. I am hoping that this year will be different!

This week's CBBxManiMonday theme is "Inspired by Packaging" and I immediately thought of the packaging from the Clinique Pop Splash Lip Gloss in the shade Juicy Apple* which is part of the Marimekko x Clinique collaboration!

PR samples, Affiliate links

MAKEUP | Limited Edition Crayola for Clinique Chubby Stick Review with Swatches

As a kid, I remember how satisfying it was to open up a fresh box of Crayola crayons and see their perfectly pointed wax tips lined up for what would eventually be hours of colouring fun (except for that one year when my baby sister who was 2 at the time broke all of them for FUN). Oddly enough, my Crayola collection has grown again with the advent of adult colouring books so seeing the Crayola for Clinique collaboration was both an ode to my childhood and to my love of makeup. Best combination EVER.

Clinique has been absolutely KILLING it with their colour cosmetics for the last couple of years and I know I can't be the only one who has fistfuls of Chubby Sticks whether it'd be for the eyes or lips! Many of you are probably familiar with the Chubby Stick Colour Balm formulation with its blend of mango and shea butter that give a moisturizing hint of colour to the lips and now there are 8 additional limited edition shades that are Crayola approved!

MAKEUP LOOK | Neutral Eyes with Urban Decay Naked Palette 1 and a Pop of Blue with NYX

This was my birthday look. My birthday was July 1st. It is the end of August so I guess this look was long overdue to talk about! I remember it was quite humid in Vancouver that day hence the crazy baby hairs and weird curls that my ghd could not seem to fix. Nevertheless, it was the first time in awhile I had had a birthday party and I wanted to pull off turning 33 (!) by adding something new to my makeup routine - blue liner. Blue liner has been trending this year and looking at these photos now, I wish I had been braver and had a heavier hand with how much blue I was using because it really is such a great colour on everyone!

Topbox | August 2014 Edition (My Last One…It’s the End of a Beauty Box Era!)

I pulled the cord and ended my Topbox sub in September due to the an overwhelming number of products in my life and the lack of excitement I was feeling from each Topbox. I have been a Topbox subscriber since November 2011, so it was a big part of my beauty blogging life. I do still LOVE their limited edition FLARE and LOULOU boxes so I will definitely have my eye on those!

August’s Topbox was fairly lackluster for me which is what really got me to break up with Topbox, but I believe the Jayne from 2011 would have really loved it because she had so little product back then. Nonetheless, I would use 50% of the items in this box, but that always seems to be the case with all of my more recent Topboxes. Shall we dive in?

Review | Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush

Ever since the Clarisonic appeared on the beauty market, there have been a number of brush cleansing systems that have emerged claiming to do the same thing, but at a much more affordable price point. With the Clarisonic Mia starting at $150 CDN, it is a bit of an investment especially if you don’t know how it will work on your skin. If you currently do not own a brush cleansing system or exfoliate regularly, the Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush ($95 CDN) is actually a wonderful starting point for ALL skin types and a great tool to get you in he habit. Having used both systems now, I can confidently say which one I prefer, but let’s break it down shall we?

Topbox | March 2014

March’s edition of Topbox was alright, maybe not the most exciting as past ones due to some familiar faces, but it’s not that the faces were bad. I think I just have so much that it’s hard to find something I haven’t tried before so I’m going to try to be more objective in these unboxings and try to be more like the Jayne of 2011 when beauty boxes were only just in their infancy.

Topbox | Chatelaine Magazine Edition

At the end of August, Topbox alerted subscribers to a special Chatelaine Edition Topbox upon signing up for a Chatelaine magazine subscription. After receiving a copy of Chatelaine in the September Topbox, I decided to sign up for a yearly subscription as the magazine was surprisingly interesting (aka “I’m getting old”) and was at promotional pricing ($14.95/12 issues).

Topbox | August “Regular” Edition

For the month of August, I was once again unimpressed with the Prive box selections and opted for the regular Topbox once more. I have found that I generally prefer the regular Topboxes to the Prive ones, but I can’t tell if it’s because of the product selection or the element of surprise! It’s probably a bit of both, but I was very pleased with what I received this month even if I already had one of the products!

July Favourites

We are already halfway through the summer, isn’t it crazy? We’re seeing clothes and beauty collections for the Fall season and summer is on its way out according to the retail world! I was on vacation for half of July so my makeup routine was fairly minimal by sticking with items that got me out the door in no time flat!

1. Biotherm Lait Corporel Anti-Drying Body Milk

I have reviewed the body butter version of this before which I love for winter, so the body milk version is much lighter in consistency therefore making it much more comfortable to use in warmer months. It absorbs quickly into the skin and still has that glorious orange scent that I love. It seriously smells like real oranges!

2. Juice Beauty Lip Gloss in Pink

I received this in May’s Ipsy Bag and it is lovely! It smells like my favourite thing…oranges! I have been layering this purple gloss over my pink-toned lipsticks and have been loving the results! It doesn’t stay glossy for very long on me because it’s not one of those super sticky glosses, but it’s such a pretty purple that I don’t mind having to reapply.

3. Julep Mighty Nail and Cuticle Serum

This sleek-looking tool arrived in my April Julep Maven Box and what I love about this serum is that for nail pictures, it takes away the visual dryness of my cuticles without leaving an oily finish that might show up in pictures. It dries so quickly that my nails are photo ready in a matter of seconds. I wouldn’t use this if I needed an intense blast of hydration though. For that, I would stick to good ol’ greasy cuticle oil!

4. Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Mascara

I talked about this mascara in my review of MUFE’s new Smoky Extravagant mascara and what I love about this mascara is that in addition to volume, it looks like I have many more lashes than I do when I wear it! The formula is very smooth and does not clump at all unlike that of Smoky Extravagant.

5. Fresh Brown Sugar Eau de Parfum

You can probably see from the picture that I barely have any left because I have been using this rollerball to death! I love how different the scent is and for those of you who love Fresh products, you can guess that Brown Sugar smells just as amazing as every other Fresh product! It’s light, sweet and refreshing. I promise, you will love it!

6. & 7. Clinique Chubby Stick for Eyes in Ample Amber and Fuller Fudge

This was my first foray into the Clinique Chubby Stick world and even though I wasn’t wowed by the application of all the colours, these two browns were my favourite. These are much smoother than the Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Shadow Pencils and with primer, can last a whole work day. I use Ample Amber on the inner corners and first 2/3 of my eyes and then finish the outer corners with Fuller Fudge while blending the two. Together these have made the perfect natural eye duo for me!

8. Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat

Other than my LED story from my tuxedo nail art post, this top coat is actually quite amazing. It dries in minutes and leaves a crazy shine behind!

9. Lise Watier Sun Smart Tinted Universal UV Shield SPF 30

I have been LIVING in this for most of the July and whenever I’m out and about now. This gives me the protection I need while giving my skin a beautiful bronzed colour. It also evens out my skin tone and gives me skin the most flawless appearance!

See you next month!

Loose Button Luxe Box | LOULOU Summer Edition

This summer’s Luxe Box wasn’t a surprise as we were all given the opportunity to upgrade to a variety of different boxes prior to ship out. For an extra $5, I decided to upgrade to the LOULOU edition mainly because there was going to be a Cake Beauty product that I had been wanting to try! I have a yearly subscription so while each quarter is $24, having to pay $29 for this Luxe box was quite the steal considering what I would be getting!

Shoppers Drug Mart | Birthday Goodies

I don’t know if I’m just crazy, but I chose to get a bulk of birthday goodies from none other than Shoppers Drug Mart. There was a redemption and bonus points event the weekend of my birthday so I definitely used it as an excuse to say “Happy Birthday to Me”! I hope that the points system doesn’t change with the new Loblaws ownership…points are the main reason I shop at Shoppers because their prices aren’t exactly the lowest for many of the products they carry. Fingers crossed things don’t change too much!

February Luvs

I feel like I’ve been in a rut when it comes to favourites. I feel like I’m just wanting to stick with products that are comfortable and safe…with the exception of Maybelline’s Colorsensational Vivids! If it weren’t for those Vivids, I really would be a plain Jayne and you guys wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore!

January 2013 Topbox Clinique Prive Box

We’ve all seen what the January Prive Box has to offer, but the consistent beauty box lover in me just HAS to make a post anyway! I didn’t know how to feel about the Prive Box because I didn’t think Topbox needed to change anything other than go back to the way they used to be before the lackluster products started making their way into our boxes back in the Fall, but if Prive means going back to deluxe sample sizes I fully support it!

Unfortunately, the products in the Clinique Prive Box were not that exciting for me as I’ve grown up with Clinique Bonus Time and I have tried all of these products at one point or another. It’s interesting how many other girls mentioned that Clinique made them nostalgic because I have the same feelings about Clinique as well! I suppose it is sort of an entry into department store makeup that doesn’t have insane price points. The products are fairly affordable even when I was a poor student. Doing this review, definitely took me down memory lane :-)

December 2012 Empties!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s celebration! I am very full from yet another big family dinner and I feel like I’m all “celebrated out”! I sort of just want to get 2013 started and get those resolutions going! Empties seemed like an appropriate post to end the year with as I’m saying goodbye to both 2012 and product!

Body

Shoppers Drug Mart Fall Beauty Bonus!

I actually didn’t plan on getting the Fall Beauty Bonus, but then I got involved in beauty box swaps and realized that this bonus plus the 20x events happening this week was the perfect time to get items for my international swaps! If any of you get involved with swapping, it reminds me of having pen pals as a kid, but much more awesome! I won’t show what I got for my swaps, just what I purchased for myself, but to qualify for the Fall Beauty Bonus, I needed to spend $125 on cosmetics and I did it with $128 worth of product. I cut it pretty close! Let’s see what I got!

I love pampering myself with face masks at least two or three times a week so I had to try a couple of yummy-sounding ones from the Balea line. These Balea sachets are 3 for $5 and I can usually I can get around three uses out of each one.