Introducing: Blogmas 2013

In an effort to be more consistent in blogging, I have decided to start something called BLOGMAS this December. Starting December 1st and going all the way to December 25th, I will be blogging every other day!!

I'm currently on a roll for blogging since I've been feeling more inspired lately so I really want to keep up the momentum I've had. 

Blogmas posts will not be only about beauty. I will be posting a lot of personal posts as well; it will be a hearty mix of everything I love, not just beauty. 

Here's to hoping for a great holiday season this year!

Spotlight: Naked 3 Palette

Can we just pause for a moment and thank the Beauty Gods for the best thing that's about to come our way? Urban Decay has recently announced the Naked 3 palette and oh. my. god.

Siiiiiiiiiiigh. 

The Naked 3 palette features colors with soft rose-colored undertones. These are never-before-seen shades. Brand new! Just for us to enjoy! BUT it still gets better! The palette also comes with a double-ended eye shadow brush AND samples of each of the four Urban Decay primers (Original, Sin, Eden, and Anti-Aging). 

I bought the original Naked palette sometime last year and absolutely loved its versatility. Naked 2 palette? Not such a big fan of any of the colors. It was a palette I could do without. But the Naked3 palette is amazing for everyday eyes. And you can just as easily go from day to night thanks to those lovely few dark shades. 

If there is ONE beauty item in my Christmas wishlist, you're looking at it baby! Sadly, it's out of stock on the UD website and Sephora Canada has yet to get it in store but you can bet that I'll be getting it the minute it comes out.

What do you think of the new palette? Will you be getting it or is it a pass for you?

Porn: Winter Coat Edition

With November almost ending, Canada is in full-on winter mode. Though we have yet to see any sign of snow, temperatures have plummeted to the single digits already and small rain puddles have transformed into ice sheets overnight. 

This can only mean one thing: time to bring out your best winter coats, ladies. While I'm all set with my L.L. Bean Baxter State Parka (with down filling!) for the harsh Canadian winter, I still have quite a wandering eye. 

So during one of my many procrastination sessions whilst working on my essay, I came up with a list of nine coats that I wouldn't mind owning...if I had enough money, that is. But a girl can dream, right?

Starting with the navy pea coat, clockwise:

1. Navy Hooded Pea Coat - £40

2. Fat Face Penny Parka, Olivine - £98

3. Ralph Lauren Cashmere-Blend Belted Coat - $295

4. Juicy Couture Wool Oversized Moto Coat - $368

5. Burberry Brit Wool Duffle Coat - $995

6. Rebecca Taylor Wool Coat with Shearling Collar - $995

7. Tommy Hilfiger Hooded Faux-Fur Trim Coat - $150

8. Topshop Fur Trim Short Parka Jacket - $150

9. Eddie Bauer Travex Jacket - $80 

My Lipstick Collection

With an interest in lipsticks popping up over the last few months, I've managed to gather a small collection so I thought it'd be a good idea to devote a post on my growing lipstick collection. 

I used to only wear lip balms but after the red lips trend, I wanted to try it. So I bought my first ever lipstick, the Wet n' Wild lipstick in Hot Red to start experimentation. With that, my confidence wearing lipsticks grew as did my collection. 

This shade is a gorgeous red-orange shade. It's a little shiny but also a little matte. It has great pigmentation and is fantastic to wear on casual nights out. 

This is a lip crayon that I got in my November ipsy bag and I haven't gotten the chance to wear it out yet but I love the shade. It's red but muted enough that you can wear it on any normal day. It's not very overbearing on the lips either so I love it.  

I love the formulation of this lipstick. Kate Moss by Rimmel lipsticks are great drugstore lipsticks and there are so many great shades in the collection. This is from the Lasting Finish collection (not the LF Matte) so it has a bit of shine to it. I'm not the biggest fan of the matte lipsticks but I really like the reddish-orange shade. It glides on smooth and lasts forever.

This shade. For the longest time, this has been my holy grail lipstick. I finally bought it a couple of weeks ago after having it on my wishlist for ages and I haven't looked back. It's the kind of a deep-red color that is perfect for date nights or going out for drinks with your besties. It glides on super smooth, has great pigmentation, and is absolutely perfect. This is also the perfect shade for that Christmas dinner/party you'll be heading to this year. 

I got this as a sample in my first ipsy bag. This is a great shade and the first time I had ever used a lipstick that deviated from a red color. I really loved this color. Like MAC's Russian Red, this glides on great and has good pigmentation. It's part of Urban Decay's Revolution lipstick collection and I cannot wait to try some of the other colors. 

I got this as part of my November ipsy bag. It's part of Michelle Phan's new 'em' make-up brand. I haven't worn it out yet but I love how it applied when I swatched it. It's a really nice pretty pink color that I cannot wait to wear!

I bought this shade and is the only color I have that has more of a peachy/nude tone. That being said, it applied very matte on my lipstick so I don't like to wear it on its own. If I ever wear it, I pair it up with a lip balm or gloss to give it some shine. I also love pairing it with L'Oreal's Color Riche Lip Balm in Tender Mauve (left it at home so couldn't include it in this post!).

This is a great nude lip gloss shade. I'd never tried the Buxom brand before so when I got this in one of my ipsy bags, I was pretty excited. I really like the subtle sparkliness that shows when you apply it. The shade itself is a lovely nude color that is great for everyday use. 

What are some of your favorite lipsticks?

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Review: Urban Decay NAKED Palette

If there was ever a beauty cult product, it is Urban Decay's NAKED palette. With a price tag of around $50, it is certainly a pricey purchase but after reading and hearing about this palette from literally every beauty guru blogger and vlogger, I knew I had to give this a go. So last Christmas, my mother was nice enough to gift it to me. After that, I haven't looked back. 

This palette has a little bit of literally everything. In terms of color range, there is a quite a bit of browns and dark purple/blue shades. If there's one palette that can give you a soft, daytime look as well as a great smoky eye, this palette is the one. I'm personally not into wearing a lot of bright colors like reds, pinks, or purples on my eyes so I can honestly say that I have rarely used any of my other eye shadow palette after getting the NAKED palette. 

The pigmentation of each shadow, with the exception of Naked, is absolutely perfect. Because each of the shadows swatch so strongly, the palette is very long-lasting. Like I said, I got it last Christmas and I've barely scratched the surface on any of the shadows. Another plus for me was that I recently realized that I could use the Dark Horse shade to fill in my brows. Sigh. It's so multifunctional!

If you're in the market for a great, multi-functional eye shadow palette and don't mind splurging a bit for a great product, Urban Decay's NAKED palette should be at the top of your list. It is absolutely perfect for every occasion. 

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Review: Coastal Scents 22 Piece Brush Set

This past summer, I found myself buying single brushes a little too often. Every couple of weeks, I would be back at the drugstore to pick up a foundation brush or concealer brush or powder brush. So when I found this sweet 22 brush set on sale at Coastal Scents, I snatched one up. When I bought it, it was about $20 but even at it's regular $35 price tag, it's still too good a deal to pass up. 

Clockwise, L-R: Angle brush (goat hair), Round powder (synthetic), Foundation (fiber), Flat buffer (synthetic), Powder buffer (synthetic), and Fan brush (synthetic)

L-R: Dome Blender (pony hair), Large Shadow (pony hair), Doe Foot (pony hair), Detailed Concealor (fiber hair), Dome Shadow (pony hair), Pointed Blender (pony hair), Blender (pony hair), Concealor (pony hair)

 L-R: Small Liner/Brow (nylon hair), Medium Liner/Brow (nylon hair), Large Liner/Brow (nylon hair), Medium Shadow (pony hair), Brow (pony hair), Detail Shadow (pony hair), Lip (pony hair), Smudger Sponge

I haven't even used a lot of the eye brushes. This set is so great and the the travel bag it comes with is so nice and would come in super handy if you travel a lot. My go-to brushes thus far have been the flat buffer brush, the large liner/brow brush, and the angled blush brush. This set is particularly great for anyone who is just beginning in make-up or likes to have all the tools but doesn't care if they're the absolute best. Basically, this is a great starter brush set. 

What do you think of this set? What are your go-to brushes?

Review: Micellar Waters

At the end of a long day of school, I don't want to spend fiddling with two or three different make-up removal cleansers just to remove my make-up. This is especially the case if I'm super tired and just want a quick make-up removal method. Feel the same way? Let me introduce you to micellar waters!

Micellar waters are great for those quick, easy times since they have a non-rinse formulation. Basically it means that unlike other make-up removal cleansers, you don't have to follow them up with washing your face. You can just use them to remove your make-up and then ta da! Dunzo! That being said, I do recommend following it up with washing your face, especially if your skin is going through a tough time. 

Bioderma Sebium H2O Micellaire Solution. Bioderma is clearly the cult classic. Bloggers, YouTubers, and any other beauty make-up gurus absolutely raved about this product so when it made its way to my local Shoppers Drug Mart, I knew I had to try it. I bought this product early this past summer after my La Roche Posay micellaire solution began to run low. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. This particular formulation is for those of us with oily skin (for normal skin, buy the pink bottle!) and since my skin gets really oily in the summer, this was perfect! At $33, it is certainly expensive but it's November and I have yet to run out of it. And I use it quite religiously. It removes about 97% of all heavy make-up and it's great for those nights where you just want one product to remove all the make-up, remove it well, and leave your skin leaving smooth. 

La Roche Posay Physiological Micellaire Solution. Compared to the Bioderma, this was really cheap. I tried this when I was in the market to replace my old make-up remover and the drugstore lady suggested I try the micellar waters. Since it was on sale at the time at almost $11, I saw no problem at a little experimentation. In my opinion, this is very similar to the Bioderma micellar water. It may not leave the skin feeling very smooth but it does go a pretty decent job at removing all the make-up. For the price, you can't go wrong. Especially if you haven't tried micellar waters and want to dip your toe into the (micellar) water. Hah. See what I did there?

Overall, I really like having micellar waters as part of my night-time routine. They're quick, easy, and get the job done. Have you tried any? What are your thoughts?

The November ipsy Bag

Everything I know about make-up is because of the YouTube beauty gurus. I watch a lot of them religiously but the very first guru I watched was Michelle Phan. Her videos are amazing and she is undoubtedly the beauty inspiration for many of us.

So when I heard she started a beauty subscription box, ipsy, I knew I had to get in on it. At $10, it's definitely one of the cheaper boxes and the items are really awesome. I've had the subscription for a few months now but this is the first I'm documenting simply because I haven't forgotten to do so. 

I was actually really surprised and excited about this month's bag. Usually, there is one product that I'm not so sure I will use but all of the products in this month's bag are absolutely amazing. There are two lip products (in colors that I love wearing, SCORE!), a nail polish, a bronzer (YES!), and an eyeshadow. Overall, this is one of the best boxes I've gotten thus far. 

1. Pixi Subtly Suntouched. This could not have come at a better time. I'd been in the market for a bronzer for a bit now and I'd been wanting to try the Pixi brand for some time as well so it's perfect timing!

2. Be a bombshell "Hot Damn". So this is more like a lip crayon and when you apply it, it feels like it as well. It's not super shiny but it does apply well and the pigmentation is pretty good as well. 

3. em "Don't Tell Mom". This month, we all got an extra treat with our ipsy bags: we got an item from Michelle Phan's new make-up line called 'em'. I love this color (very similar to Urban Decay's Anarchy) and the lipstick itself is very moisturizing. It glides on very smoothly and is super pigmented. LOVE the formulation!

4. BH Cosmetics Galaxy Chic in "Aphrodite". I love the color of this eye shadow. It's very pigmented and is a nice warm red color with kind of a pinkish, bronze undertone. I'm not sure the picture translates that It's hard to describe but I really like the color. This would be great during the winter, especially for a nice smoky eye!