NAILS | J & S Nails Gel Polish Swatch in SR3 Review

It is Chinese New Year on Jan 28th and I am on the hunt for some celebratory red polishes! I have never been one to fully celebrate CNY, but my work environment is very supportive of it so I have been paying more and more attention to the traditions involved. I realize I have been chatting about J & S Nails a lot since last month, but I have been so impressed with how easy their system is to use as well as the final results of their polishes, that I can't help but gravitate towards them! I know these were all PR samples, but seriously! These polishes have changed the way I think about gel polish and I hope all of you get a chance to check them out for yourselves!

MAKEUP LOOK | SHU UEMURA MURAKAMI COSMIC BLOSSOM EYE & CHEEK PALETTE IN COSMIKawaii WITH SWATCHES

I did this look way back in November and I wasn't too happy with it. I had just gotten both my hair done and eyebrows microbladed and things were just super dramatic. I wasn't sure which colours went well with my darker hair and as it turned out, the Cosmicool palette was a MUCH better fit for me which is why that look went up instead! Looking through these photos the other day, I realized that the Murakami Cosmic Blossom Eye and Cheek Cosmikawaii Palette ($85.00 CDN) is such a pretty little peach in a basket that it would be a shame not to share some swatches at least! 

NAILS | Happy Anniversary to the Original Amino Acid Molecular Nails! #ManiMonday

Five years ago, I decided to try something that I had never seen before on nails - molecules. I planned for months what to do and finally decided on this. This was when I first started doing nail art and didn't know a lot of what I know now so I thought that on this anniversary, I'd clean up my cuticles, spruce up the colours and give you a non-blurry photo!

These nails have actually been copied a few times as well as mislabeled as "Feynmen Nails" which they are not! This idea gave much inspiration to a lot of the science nails I do and it was all done to show that just because you are a girl does not mean you can't love beauty AND be intelligent. When I was in school doing cell biology and later on computer science, being a girl was one thing, but being a girl that liked doing her nails or makeup? Obviously, that meant you spent more time on your looks than in your books! It also wasn't just men that treated me differently, but WOMEN too. It's like the ones that didn't wear makeup (which is fine!) thought I wasn't a hard worker and would coast on projects. Thankfully, I found some great people who were more progressive as well as a great boss in bioinformatics who loved genetics as much as handmade Italian shoes! So, here's to science, more money in science and women who can do it all!

KOREAN BEAUTY | Peripera Peri's Ink in #5 No-Spoiler Swatches and Review

A personal, unwritten resolution of mine last year was to talk more about Korean beauty products since I have quite the personal collection! I am going to try and do one better this year and have a Korean beauty post every week so hopefully I can get into the routine of it! I find Korean makeup brands to be "not quite" as up there with North American brands when it comes to formulation and innovation, there are a few products that are either packaged so cutely or so talked about that I just have to run out (to my computer) and click "Complete Order"!

If there is one thing Korean beauty has down, it's the lip stain. Most Korean makeup looks involve just a hint of colour in the form of a gradient lip and I have to say that when I picked up the Peripera Peri's Ink in No-Spoiler, it was hands down so much more pleasant to use than any of the North American brands I had tried. This includes the luxe brands too! This is a long-wearing "tattoo-like" lip stain that promises comfort in addition to colour payoff and longevity. Let's see how it did!

NAILS | Born Pretty Holographic Rainbow Powder Review

I have been seemingly having fun with the Born Pretty Store Rainbow Holographic Nail Powder* (1.5g/$2.99 USD), but it has been a TON of trial and error. It was not as easy for me as the instructions on the website and YouTube had depicted. In fact, my initial experience with this powder had me baffled as I just could not understand what I was doing wrong! I was literally doing what the videos were demonstrating and yet I was having so many issues making the powder stick to the nail surface. I have outlined three of my 17 attempts with the final photos being the ones that showcase a method that worked all the time. Come with me on this magical journey filled with unicorn dust...

NAILS | Sally Hansen Color Therapy Green and Gold Half Moons #ManiMonday

I am just shocked at myself for not using more Sally Hansen polishes last year as this was practically the brand that got me into nail art! Sally Hansen always has so many solid creme shades that make them wonderful for dotting or as a foundation for other nail art. In the summer of last year, Sally Hansen introduced their new Color Therapy line which includes argan, acai and evening primrose oil in their actual nail polish formulations to condition and strengthen nails while having an awesome-looking manicure! Call me old-fashioned, but when it comes to nail polish, it's always going to be one of those beauty products that IS harmful. We are all trying our best to make it LESS harmful, but until the day comes when you can drink the bottle or apply it to your skin with no ill effects, a formulation with as few bad things as we can spare is what we are going to have to settle for!