NAILS | Hermes Iris Violetta #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

It has been over a month since I last painted my nails as I waited patiently for them to grow back...and then break again. My index nail still isn't back to what it was before and I am eating really well and feeling good so who knows what is happening. Sometimes nails are just what they are no matter how much biotin or good food you ingest.

NAILS | Happy Valentine's Day! #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

It has been a weird week for me. Throughout the years, I am sure I have mentioned Inventory on this blog many times and as of last year, we started doing it on Sundays when we are closed. We used to do it over two days - Saturday night and Sunday morning, but now it's all done on just the one day. While it's great to do Inventory on a day where we don't have to open the store, it does screw us all up for the week in terms of all of us thinking Sunday was a Monday! 

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. 

NAILS | I've Got Stars In My Eyes #CBBxManiMonday

Sally Hansen nail polish is a press sample

I do not think I have done real nail art in awhile and I thought I would get to it this weekend, but with our Vancouver heatwave and us not getting AC yet, the thought of sitting and painting my nails while my bum sticks to my chair was just unthinkable this weekend. I also felt completely braindead in terms of inspiration, but I feel like it might be time to redo some old designs with different colours as summer brights are my favourite theme. I haven't done a beach theme in awhile, so maybe it's time I do that?

NAILS | Neon Peach Fuzz #CBBxManiMonday

Some press samples 

I am running out of Peach Fuzz options. There are some ideas online that I have seen ranging from literal peaches to sponging on orange in the middle of a bare nail which I think looks like your nail is bleeding underneath depending on how intense of an orange you use. I got a bit desperate and looked to glitter polishes as my saviour and lo and behold, I did find one! The now gone, Rainbow Honey has saved me once more! I took this company for granted and just thought they would be around forever, but honestly so many of my favourite nail brands have disappeared over the years which has taught me to "never subscribe to anything that charges my credit card automatically" and to "assume my order might take a really long time to show up". All of these things have happened before!  

NAILS | Rainbow Honey Evening Viola Swatch #MidWeekMani

Purchased by me

Well, today was my first day back after a REALLY nice staycation and as usual, there are always a few things to follow up and catch up on. I always find it easier to come back in the middle of the week than on a Monday as it doesn't seem quite as stressful. I use to choose Sundays as my comeback day, but now that we are closed on Sundays, I've just been choosing any other day of the week than Monday. I've found that Friday is also a good day because even if you want to follow up, people are already checking out for the weekend so it buys you some time! 

NAILS | Rainbow Honey "I Miss You" Swatch #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

Not to be overly dramatic, but I am reminded of why it is always good to have extra little backup posts as after enjoying my nails at this VERY long length, I broke the middle nail the other day right down to the tip of my finger and had to chop ALL of them down. I have broken nails before, but I was more sad than usual this time as I have had these long nails for a few months now and love the way the elongate my hand. They are ridiculously hard to work with though and I am surprised they have lasted as long as they have! I will have "real" nails next week, but right now, I leave you with this gorgeous duo of polishes from now defunct indie nail polish company Rainbow Honey.

NAILS | Rainbow Honey Demeter Swatch #CBBxManiMonday

Purchased by me

I was hoping to have some time to do some more intricate nails as I had a few days off for vacation, but between catching up on housework, blogging, organizing the beauty room and spending a whole day shopping last Thursday with a girlfriend (this was the most fun of course), it has been a pretty packed couple of days!  

NAILS | Rainbow Honey Charaxes x Metalmark #MidWeekMani

 

I know we are little past the middle of the week, but I just painted my nails and wanted to share them! These past couple of Sundays (they are the only days off my husband and I share), my husband and I have made a point of doing something together that's not a chore like grocery shopping. He works from home 95% of the time now and even though I love spending my time off on Cosmetic Proof, I have to respect the fact that to him staying at home is not as exciting for him as it is for me. So, to be good partners in life, I said that we should have a plan every Sunday to go out and see a movie, have a date OUTSIDE or for the last three Sundays finally plan out our apartment and what furniture to get!

NAILS | Halloween Black Kitty Cats #CBBxManiMonday

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I had mentioned on Friday through my Instagram stories that I had to work all the way through until today, but hubs and I did end up having a quiet Thanksgiving dinner when I got home from work. I'm not big on family dinners and get-togethers (I know, I am the daughter from hell) and especially with how I always feel when I come home from my job, I am just devoid of energy. I expend so much of my brain power at work that I find it physically difficult to socialize much afterwards so thankfully Casey is a fan of both cooking and having quiet dinners! 

Some PR samples featured

NAILS | Going Summer Bright with Rainbow Honey – Tayabak and Foxglove Foxtrot

Apologies for my quieter social presence, but this is just the beginning as I have started a new job with much longer hours than my old one so I am still trying to figure out a blog schedule. We might see a few less makeup looks over the next few months as well as posts every other day, but this certainly isn’t a “I’m stepping away from blogging” speech! In fact, I think about writing all the time and if anything absence has made the heart grow fonder.

From Rainbow Honey’s Midnight Garden Collection are two polishes that NEEDED to be combined. I believe this collection was released in Spring 2014, but even though I bought the whole collection this is the first time I’m wearing them…not the first time I’ve said that I KNOW. I am delving into this collection beginning with a bright creme green called Tayabak layered with Foxglove Foxtrot which I see as a happy blend of purple and pink circle glitter (my fave!) and multicoloured pink and purple shimmer. It is a pretty awesome glitter topper and is hands-down one of my favourites! You do need to fish for the large circle glitter though, but other than that, this was fine to work with.

NAILS | London Drugs Beauty Night “Straw” Nail Art

If anyone was following the “#LDBeauty hashtag on Twitter and/or IG you will know that in Western Canada there is one HUGE beauty event that is the talk of the town for months before and certainly long after the event is done! The London Drugs Beauty event is a showcase of LD’s top beauty vendors showing media what’s new and cool and what’s upcoming in the Fall. It also happens to be an event where there is much blogger swag given out so that we can let you guys know what you need to have in your life as well provide reviews on products you might need help deciding on. I’ve been trying to get back into nail art a bit more, so in an attempt to get into the LD spirit last night, I decided to do a straw manicure with a little accent nail of LD love!

(Polishes used: Base colour: Rainbow Honey – Charaxes, Models Own – Pastel Pink, Rainbow Honey – Tayabak, Sally Hansen InstaDri – OMGhost)

Straw manicures are kind of cool to create because all you need to do is dip the end of a straw into some polish and “stamp” away! The circles are never quite complete for me because my nails are quite curved, but I think it almost makes the manicure look more abstract. I attempted to write “London Drugs” across my nails, but letter are brutally difficult for me to draw and space out so “LD” and a hear it was! 

Reviews of products from the LD event will be slowly coming through! I’m such a snail…

April 2014 Favourites

skoah | Pep Talk Body Lotion

This is what I would consider a “medium coverage” moisturizer as it might not be enough for really dry skin or too much for when the weather gets warmer. My main reason for loving this moisturizer? The peppermint scent that leaves my skin with a slight tingle has become an easy favourite for me this past month as the scent leaves me feeling clear-headed and invigorated. Perfect for a morning wake-up call!

Julep | Bare Face Cleansing Oil

I actually started using this thanks to a post from Kalyn a month or two ago. I remembered that I had it in my unused stash of stuff and I’m so glad I brought it out from hibernation! The only other cleansing oil I have been using consistently is the infamous Shu Uemura one, but now that I have used the Julep one, I can finally say that this cleansing oil is a mean competitor! It is a little bit thicker in consistency than the Shu one and doesn’t leave quite as greasy a finish on my skin.

Rainbow Honey | Lavendula Perfume Oil

“French Lavender brightened with sun-filled citrus notes of Lime, Yuzu, and Sweet Orange”. I received a tiny 1mL rollerball (yes, an actual rollerball) in the March Rainbow Honey mystery bag and oh my goodness does this smell good! It is just so DIFFERENT than anything I have ever smelled and I have almost 100 bottles of perfume so that’s really saying something!

Urban Decay | Naked Basics

I don’t even want to talk too much about this palette as I feel like we’ve all talked about UD Naked Palettes enough for both the 20th and 21st centuries, but what I will say is that I now realize the value of having this palette as I am not normally a matte eyeshadow wearer. I have been forcing myself to use just this to see how versatile this palette is and for traveling, this is seriously all you would need!

OPI Nail Lacquer | 18K White Gold Top Coat

This is the coolest top coat ever! I know it’s a little gimmicky and crazy expensive, but the finish is just so cool! It’s like no other!

Stila | Jewel Eye Shadow in Citrine

This is a shimmery pigmented eyeshadow that has virtually no fallout despite how shimmery it is. I love wearing brown eyeshadow so the extra shimmer is a great way to spice things up!

See you next month!

Favourites | March 2014

Oh my goodness, we are motoring along in the year and we have now come to another month end which means another month of favourites! I feel like I had more than what I have showing here, but this is all I could remember! I really need to start making notes!

Swatch It Up | Rainbow Honey - Sweet Talk

Rainbow Honey’s Sweet Talk ($11.50 CDN) was released last year as a Valentine’s polish and I am so glad that it is here to stay because it is pretty awesome. This polish is a white jelly with pastel-coloured glitter – my favourite being the pops of bright red! The formula was again wonderful as with most Rainbow Honey polishes and required three coats for a comfortable opacity.

I finished off my manicure with another Rainbow Honey scented top coat, this time in Magic Cake which smells just like doughnuts! So good and so shiny!

Have a good week everyone and happy Monday!

Rainbow Honey polishes can be purchased at Rainbow Honey and Nail Polish Canada.

PR sample sent to me for review.

St.Paddy’s Day Swatch It Up | Rainbow Honey-Trifolium

It’s still St.Patrick’s Day for three more hours on the West Coast so I’m still allowed to post my St.Paddy’s Day mani! I placed an order for Rainbow Honey’s Trifolium ($10 USD) in the hopes of wearing this polish for the occasion and my package made it just in time. Trifolium actually looks much darker in person, but outside it looked almost bright green.

Swatch It Up | Rainbow Honey–Magic Cake

It’s Friday and that means some fun nails for the weekend! The weather is just gorgeous today in Vancouver so I wanted to wear Spring-happy nails which made me think of Rainbow Honey – Magic Cake. Magic Cake is a fun, neon bright glitter with all sorts of matte neon glitter shapes sitting a clear, slightly shimmery base. I’ve seen Magic Cake layered over black a few times so I thought I’d layer it over some brighter colours.

The gorgeous pink is Rainbow Honey-Apple Kid, the glittery lavender is Rainbow Honey – Tessie and the bright mint green is Rainbow Honey – Mint Flavor.

Swatch It Up | Rainbow Honey - XOXO

Today I have a swatch from the Rainbow Honey Sweet Talk Collection in the aptly named XOXO and is described as “a ravishing blend of glitters and flakes in a clear base for easy use over any manicure!” XOXO is filled with fuchsia hex glitter and micro gold and iridescent glitter all beautifully suspended in the most perfect glitter formula! When you take out your brush, it is just loaded with glittery goodness and my swatches are just one coat. My one coat was on the more generous side, but I guarantee that no one will have any problems getting that glitter out because it applies BEAUTIFULLY. Here are my swatches of XOXO layered over two coats of Essence – Black is Back.

Swatch It Up | Rainbow Honey Ephemeral with the the Unreleased Papillon!

I am a Rainbow Honey polish junkie. I have almost every polish created and don’t plan on stopping! My favourites so far have got be: The Kraken and Lumine Hall! And there are so many more beautifully, heart-stopping, reach into your wallet colours to choose from! Today I have Ephemeral and Papillon (soon to be released in March 2014!) to share with you! Ephemeral is a frosty, light pink with a blue and purple shimmer. I don’t normally like frosty polishes, but the iridescent shimmer adds so much more depth to this polish that I fell in love within the first few coats. I then layered it with two coats of Papillon which, if you remember you French, means “butterfly”! Hence, the pink butterfly-shaped glitter distributed throughout!

Outdoors in the shade

Wantable | October 2013 Make Up Edition

That’s right, this is the October Wantable edition at the beginning of January! It’s almost laughable, but this box was pretty good so I wanted to share it with you all! January is all about new year’s resolutions so for me that’s catching up with what I missed out on telling you all from 2013! October seems so long ago and all I remember about my preferences for the October Wantable edition is that I REALLY tried to make sure that I got nail polish in my box and sure enough, I received TWO polishes!