NAILS | Dotted Blue Gradient #CBBxManiMonday

It has rained for five days straight in Vancouver and I have had to wear socks and pants in the house. Fall is coming and though I do enjoy cooler weather, the constant rain has been a dreary reminder of what's to come over the next couple of months. Today is also the last day of my glorious staycation which has been VERY productive in terms of finally gaining some traction in purging my beauty room! I have literally been cleaning out the space every day for the last 7 days averaging about 5-6 hours/day and have filled one of our recycling bins outside to the max with old press releases and packaging and have donated NINE medium sized Aritzia bags of beauty products to friends, family, co-workers and neighbours! I still have yet to tackle my nail polish collection and that is something I will not be able to complete this week, but I am hoping that by the end of the month, I will have created some space! Then, the exciting part of getting a new desk and new storage can happen once I know what I am working with!  

Some PR products used

MAKEUP | Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips 2 with Lip Swatches

I love Charlotte Tilbury makeup just as much as the next girl and though I am fortunate enough to receive the occasional press package here and there, I do buy a fair amount of CT product on my own especially when I need to restock on my dry sheet masks! When the original Hot Lips launched back in 2016 (review), I was psyched to get my hands on them and bought a few more after enjoying the formula and shades quite a bit. Now, there are 11 brand new shades with two formulas coming in 5 collectable cases! Oh, and the cases are refillable!

PR samples

GIVEAWAY | All Your Hair Needs Taken Care of this Fall with Live Clean!

We are closing in on Fall which means a revamp of all things beauty like me feeling the urge to go from a glossy to a matte lip, bright to darker nails and more moisture EVERYWHERE! While I generally try to keep my hair fairly hydrated all year round, I pay extra attention in the Fall and Winter season with switching to more moisturizing shampoos and oils, oil, oils! Now, do I have a treat for you! 

PR samples

SHEET MASK | Kocostar Lemon Sliced Mask #100DaysofSheetMasks

Ok, I am cheating a little bit as this was a mask that I wore for last year's #100DaysofSheetMasks challenge, but I am determined to empty out my "Masks Unblogged" folder by the end of 2019! I was a bit overzealous last year in thinking that I could pump out 100 sheet mask reviews, but better yet that EVERY mask deserved a dedicated blog post. Some masks are just pretty to look at on the outside, but then when I try it there is nothing in particular that makes it different from another plain white sheet mask that you have seen before. With Kocostar though, the packaging is cute, but then you NEED to know what these slices look like on the skin! I have already reviewed the salad portion of their mask slices series (cucumber and tomato) so it's time for some fruit!

Purchased by me

NAILS | Going Abstract Again #CBBxManiMonday

I used to think that I could never pull off an abstract manicure and when I started seeing more and more of the minimalist/geometric style manicures being showcased by big brands and other nail artists, I still wasn't sure if I had the creativity to design something and I still don't! I'm not a particularly creative person so I really do need to go through Pinterest or Instagram to get some ideas and today's manicure is from the feed of one of my favourite nail artists @thehangedit. I have also really been loving the shades from the new CND Treasured Moments collection so this manicure gave me a chance to use them again!

PR samples featured

SKINCARE | KBeauty Routine with Seoul Sundays

It seemed only fitting to talk about Vancouver-based Korean beauty e-tailer Seoul Sundays on a Sunday! Launching earlier this year, this is a curated set of products by some lovely ladies who, like many of us, have run through the gamut of skincare and have a fairly good idea of products that work. When it comes to Kbeauty, technology and products tend to be more advanced and have fancier mode of actions than North American skincare. If anything, by the time something hits North America (remember BB cream?), it has already been done and revamped a thousand times over in Asia. Though the Seoul Sundays product listing isn't extensive, the products that ARE there are all ones that have been tested out personally by the staff themselves and the products I did recognize I KNEW were excellent! You will often see the products in action on the company's Instagram Stories making what you might be buying more relatable to your own skincare routine.

PR samples