Drugstore Haul

Things have finally calmed down enough here in Kingston. I was lucky enough to be hired as a Don (i.e. RA) for residence this year so between 2 weeks of training followed by residence orientation, I haven't had enough time to breathe. 

Until a few days ago.

The weather was absolutely beautiful here so I readily took the chance to wander through downtown Kingston. And when it comes to that, I can hardly resist a trip into Shoppers Drug Mart. Here are my goodies from a few days back! 

L-R: Smell the Roses, Spice Things Up, Crystal Clear top coat, In a Splash, and Silver Texture

I had originally gone to SDM with the idea of buying a nail polish sported by a friend (the one of the far left). However, I couldn't resist the others as they were all on sale!

I also bought my fourth every lipstick (does that qualify as one?): the L'Oreal Color Riche Balm in the shade Tender Mauve and the L'Oreal Infallible Super Slim Eyeliner. 

I actually really like the felt tip eyeliner since it glides on very smoothly. Like very smoothly. It doesn't skip at all and you don't have to put too much pressure on it for it to apply which I love. The only thing I don't like is that although it claims to be smudge-proof, it does smudge around the outer corner of my eyes. That aspect requires a bit of upkeep but other than that, this is one stellar felt tip eyeliner. 

I absolutely LOVE this shade. I have just very recently started wearing lipstick so I'm still pretty conservative when it comes to different shades for school (unless I'm going out, of course) but this shade is perfect for me. It has the right amount of color and shimmer and applies very smoothly. I will definitely be trying out different shades in this line in the future!

Lastly, how can I resist some Soap and Glory? This nifty little box was a birthday gift set for $25 and came with the shower gel, body butter lotion, AND a loofah! It was such a good deal that I couldn't resist snatching it up. Both the shower gel and the lotion smell absolutely heavenly. I'm seriously in love with like every Soap and Glory product out there. 

What are some products you've been loving recently?

NOTD: Essie's Mint Candy Apple

Essie's Mint Candy Apple is hands-down my favorite color that I own currently. It's such a beautiful color and it's absolutely perfect for the summer and winter. It very toned down and it looks absolutely fantastic on any skin tone. If you've always wanted to buy from the Essie brand but have balked at the prices before, go ahead and buy this shade. You won't regret it, I promise.

It actually doesn't look very mint-y in this light but it does in certain lights. Regardless, I love the pale-blue color of the polish. It actually makes me so happy every time I look at it :) 

What do you guys think? 

Get to Know Me Tag

So I haven't blogged in a long time thanks to summer school exams/assignments. But now that I finally have time, I can finally catch up on them. I've got quite a few reviews waiting to be posted but I need time to transfer the pictures to my computer so until then, I hope this Get to Know Me tag from the lovely Mikki over at Mademoiselle Mikki (check hers out HERE) will satisfy you in the meantime! 

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

It's really somewhere in the middle. It does its own thing everyday. 

2. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

I dye my own hair for the most part unless I want to drastically change the color or do highlights/lowlights.  

3. Do you wear the same style everyday, or do you change it?

I wear my hair down pretty much everyday or put it up in a ponytail/bun if I'm working/studying. Nothing too fancy but I will curl my hair and spend time on it if I'm going out somewhere at night. 

4. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

I do my own. I live in a city where mani/pedi is quite expensive and as a student who's broke and also obsessed with make-up, I can't really afford going to a salon, sadly.

5. How often do you change your nail polish?

Usually when I notice it chipping or when my nails are in a need of a trim.

  

6. Do you polish your toes in the winter or just the summer?

Mainly just in the summer but I'm trying to do it year-round! I just get so lazy during the winter haha. 

7. How long does it take for you to put on makeup?

On average about 15 minutes but that's only because I get distracted by YouTube very easily.

8. What do you do first? Face or eyes?

Definitely, face. Eyes are the last things I touch.

10. How often do you wear false eyelashes?

Never. Too scared to try them on. Long live volumizing mascara haha 

11. Do you do a full face of makeup everyday?

During the school year, yes. If I don't, it means I'm feeling sick or it's the weekend and I'm not leaving my house. I have some days (esp. during the summer) where I don't put any make up on because I need to give my skin a breather in between because of the heat and humidity.

12. Do you wear makeup when you're home alone or with family?

Not really.  

13. Will you leave the house without makeup?

That's happened maybe 5% of all the times I've left my house? I usually don't because my skin needs foundation to even it out so if I'm really in a hurry, I will only put that on. But if I'm sick, well, any feelings of looking decent go down the gutter lol.

14. How many high-end products do you have?

Quite a few. Most of the regular items I use are Urban Decay and MAC. MAC dominates in terms of foundation and eyeshadows but I also use the UD Naked palette frequently and the primer potion.

15. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you're getting dressed?

When I'm getting dressed. I change my mind like a million times so there's no point in ever pre-picking an OOTD.

16. How often do you change your handbag?

Depends on what I'll be doing for the day. I have two main handbags I use: a small tote-type crossbody handbag from H&M and a Coach crossbody bag that fits my phone and wallet only. I use my Coach bag if I'm just carrying my phone + wallet but my H&M bag for anything more than that.

17. What time do you wake up and go to sleep?

Recently, I've been going to sleep around 2:00-2:30am and waking up at 10am since it's summer but once school starts in a couple of weeks, I'll be waking up much earlier and going to sleep much earlier as well (probably 11:30pm-6:30am)

18. How often or when do you workout?

Rarely as of late but I am joining CrossFit at my university in a month once school starts! 

19. Left handed or right handed?

Right-handed!

20. How tall are you?

5'4" 

21. Do you speak any foreign languages?

Yep: Hindi and Gujarati.

22. How many pets do you have?

None, sadly. 

23. How often are you on Blogger?

I'm on it once a week usually. I haven't been on it much lately thanks to summer school but now that I have more time, I will be on it more. I do read all the blogs I'm following through Bloglovin' so I do that more frequently.

24. Do you read comments posted on blogs?

Always if it's my blog and sometimes on other blogs. That depends on what the post was about.

25. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

Yep!

26. How did you come up with your blog name?

Well I really wanted to name it Crown and Glory and then realized that it's also the name of a well-known accessories brand based in the UK so I changed it to Pearl and Glory instead. The Pearl part is rather fitting actually because pearl earrings are my signature accessory item. 

27. What kind of camera do you use for your photographs?

Plain old Sony Cybershot DW230. Occasionally, I will use the camera on my Samsung S3 since it gives me better pictures than the Sony. 

28. How often do you clean your house?

Rarely, by my initiative. More often if I'm forced to by my parents. Which happens a lot.

29. What's your favorite color?

Dark red.

30. Do you swear?

Yes, but only if I'm really angry.  

31. What are you doing with the rest of your day?

Well it's about 2:20am right now so I'm just going off to sleep :)

Well that's it! I hope this is good enough for now. I do have a list of other blog posts I will be putting up in the next couple of weeks so let's celebrate for getting back to regular posting and the end of my summer school!!

Review: MAC's Face and Body Foundation

Every year in September, my university has a big Sidewalk Sale as part of the Freshmen Orientation Week where a bunch of vendors, all our clubs and organizations, and our school's retail outlets set up shop on a street. Last year, I came across a small MAC kiosk where the lady was giving out samples of its Face and Body foundation. I picked up the shade C3 and then months later, decided to buy it. 

The foundation itself is great. It is a natural, satin finish foundation which means that it's not the best at coverage. You can hope to get low-to-medium coverage so don't pick it if you're prone to break out. My skin does break out easily during exam season and especially in the summer so I haven't been using it as much recently. 

Another thing to note about this foundation is the satin finish. I wouldn't recommend this foundation if your face gets really oily. Because of the satin finish, it gives a dewy effect on my skin, which is not a big deal during the winter. Summer is a different story, however. My face is more prone to oiliness because of the heat so I stay away from this foundation. And if I use it, I make sure I'm carrying some compact powder to fix up my face throughout the day.

However, it's a very lightweight formula (as you can see in the swatch) so it's great if you want to even out your skin tone before you apply any other products. I mostly used the product during the winter when my face was otherwise clear of any breakouts. 

Regardless, this is a great foundation and I would highly recommend it. It blends beautifully and I absolutely love that it's not very heavy on my skin. 

What do you guys think? What's your favourite foundation currently?

NOTD: Essie's Eternal Optimist

I've realized that I haven't updated about beauty in a while. There's been too many random posts but I think I know just the way to get back into beauty blogging.

I've been obsessed with painting my nails a pastel color. I don't know if pastels are supposed to be trendy this season but I can't resist me some pastel nails. I've also discovered the wonders of Essie. For the longest time, I couldn't rationalize spending more than $4-5 on a nail polish and the first time I tried Essie, the color began to chip in like 4 days. However, my local drugstore was having a sale on Essie nail polishes and I couldn't help but pick up a few.

One of the ones I picked up was Eternal Optimist. It's a great soft-pink color that almost borders on nude in certain lighting. I absolutely love this color, especially if you're in the mood for something a little girly but don't like darker pinks or hot pinks. I put on two coats; I find that Essie nail polishes always require two coats. The only thing I don't like about these nail polishes in general? The brushes aren't wide. I've found that my hands are much more stable if the brush is wide and a little flat but it's not that big of an issue.

Here's the color in better lighting. 

What do you guys think? What's your favorite nail polish shade?

A Day of Strawberries and Buskers

This past weekend, Kingston played host to the 25th annual Kingston Buskers Festival. If you don't know what busking is (I sure didn't), it's basically street performing. My parents also visited on Saturday so it was a perfect time to visit. We spent the whole afternoon by the water and watching as many performances as we could. It was a searing hot day but it was very nice.

Earlier that day, I'd also gone strawberry picking at a local farm called Fruition Farms. It was the last day that the strawberries were open for picking by the public and I'd been dying to go after my housemate went a week ago. Aside from being bitten by bugs (and partially terrorized by a bee), it was a perfect early morning start to a beautiful day! I went with my work supervisor, Katie, and we had just the best time. Also, isn't that just the cutest license plate? I love it.

We got driven out to the strawberry field by a giant tractor and then were left alone to pick as much as we wanted.

I really wanted to fill up the small 2L basket as well but the heat was taking its toll on both Katie and I so I called it quits after filling up the big 4L basket. 

All in all, it was a fantastic Saturday! 

A Summer Night Out

With temperatures rising up to high 20s and low 30s, it's getting increasingly hot and humid here. I don't like it. At all.

So today I've prepared a 'Summer Night Out' set. Kingston summers mean less than a quarter of the students are in town but that doesn't mean those of us that are here will stop going out at night. Now I know that going out at night in the summer means dresses, dresses, and oh yes, more dresses. But I've always been a shorts and jeans girl.

1. Billabong I'm Staying Here Tank

2. Brave Soul Dip-Dyed Studded Shorts

3. Zatchels Leather Saddle Bag

4. Balenciaga Studded Bracelet

5. Zara Simon WTF Gold Ring

6. Art Youth Society Triangle Ring

7. Jeffrey Campbell Litas

I've been loving the nautical theme this summer and I simply cannot stop looking at the Jeffrey Campbell Litas. Ever since I saw the beautiful Kavita from 'She Wears Fashion' rock her Litas (from Ebay), I have been obsessed with them. If I could buy everything in this set, I would. 

To me, this is exactly what I would wear on a night out. It's so effortless to wear and looks so comfortable (yes, even the heels). I especially love pairing something nautical with leather and studs. 

What do you guys think?