September 2016 Ipsy Bag




I have another Ipsy bag post today to get us caught up. I really like the design on this bag. It's metallic and the design on the front is really cute with the women spelling out Ipsy.
So here's what I got in my September Bag.

itCosmetics Superhero Mascara
I love itCosmetics as a brand but I've never tried their mascaras before so I'm really looking forward to using this. I have so many mascaras going right now so I'm going to wait a while before I open this one. It is a fairly small sample. The full size retails for $24.

Ulta3 Nail Colour in Sizzling Red
This is a vibrant bright red nail polish from a brand I've never heard of before. As with most nail polishes in Ipsy bags this is full size. It retails for $2.30

eyeko London Eye Do Liquid Eyeliner
I'm all about black liquid liner so this is exciting for me. I have a couple liquid liners going at the moment so I'll probably wait a while to use this. In a black liquid liner I'm looking for it to be very pigmented, matte and easy to apply so we'll see how this one goes. This is a decent sized sample at just over half of the regular size. It retails for $20.

eva-nyc Forget Me Knot Dry Conditioner
I've loved this brand ever since I got a dry shampoo from them in a previous Ipsy bag. I'm really looking forward to trying this dry conditioner as detangling products are always really important to my hair care routine. This is a sample size that would be great for travel. Full size retails for $14.


Seraphine Botanicals Guava Butter Lip and Cheek Stain
Unfortunately I already know that I do not like this product after trying it on the back of my hand. While I'm generally not a fan of cream blushes there are a few types of cream blushes I enjoy. However, this one doesn't dry to a power and instead remains fairly sticky. Most annoyingly it has a VERY strong fruit punch scent which doesn't seem to fade with time. I can't stand having scented products on my face so this one is not for me. However if these aren't drawbacks for you, the colour is very pretty. Plus the brand is vegan which is great. This product is FULL SIZE and retails for $24.

I was pretty happy with this months bag but I think the August bag was better. As I haven't tried many of these products yet, look out for my monthly favourites posts to see if any of the Ipsy products make my favourites.
What did you get in your September Ipsy Bag.

August 2016 Ipsy Bag




It's Back!!! That's right I've resubscribed to Ipsy so you can look forward to another year of Ipsy Bag Reviews and to start us off, I've got TWO Ipsy bag posts this week. Due to the Canada Post strike fiasco, I got my August and September Ipsy bags at the same time so check back here on Thursday to see what I got in my September bag
If you want to see a rundown of what I got last time I was an Ipsy subscriber you can check out My Year with Ispy post. 
First off, the bag is really cute this month. It's a little smaller than the bags I was getting last year but it feels well made.
Here's what I got in my August Bag.

Beauté Basics 3 Tone Bronzer
This is a very tiny, very shimmery bronzer. It is also fairly pigmented but blendable. It's going to give you a nice bronze glow. I swatched the individual shades and the top swatch is all three combined.

 Nomad Eyeshadow in Spice Market
This reddish cranberry shade is absolutely beautiful and perfect for this time of year. The shadow is quite pigmented but blendable. Downside is this is a fairly tiny sample. This might be my favourite product from this month's bag.

Ciaté London Nail Polish in Spinning Teacup
I really like Ciaté nail polishes so I was super excited to receive this full size polish in my bag. This lilac colour is also one of my all time favourite colours so I'm super excited about this.

it Haircare 12-in-One Amazing Leave in Treatment
I haven't tried this yet but I love hair treatments so I'm really excited. It's also a decent size at 100ml. It claims to do so many things so it will be interesting to see how this works.

Tarte Tarteist Mascara
This is the big brand product I was most excited for. I absolutely love Tarte mascaras so I can't wait to try this one out. It's only a small sample but the packaging is adorable.

What did you get in your Ipsy Bag?
I hope you enjoy the return of my Ipsy bag reviews.

My Hair Care Routine





I haven't talked much about hair care on my blog before. That's mostly because I'm not very diligent with my hair care routine. I'll often choose to spend my time getting ready doing my makeup or picking a cute outfit and I'll forgo styling my hair, instead leaving it natural. However there are a few hair products that I swear by and I thought I would share.

I'll start with my hair type. I have medium length, fine, brown hair. I've never coloured it and I rarely use heat (my fine hair air dries quite quickly). My hair varies between straight and wavy whenever it pleases despite what I have planned for it.

Shampoo and Conditioner
I've just started using the Dove Advanced Hair Series- quench Absolute for dry, wavy, curly hair. I've been loving it. It makes my hair really shiny and soft. The shampoo lathers up nicely which I always enjoy and the conditioner isn't too thick so it doesn't weigh my fine hair down. Strangely my hair dries straighter when I use this shampoo compared to other shampoos not specifically for wavy hair.

Leave-in Conditioner
I have been using this Sebastian Professional Laminates Detanging Milk for years now. I just spray it through my wet hair and brush it through. It smells really nice and it leaves my hair super soft and shiny and most importantly it helps me get a brush through my fine, tangly hair.

Heat Protector 
On the rare occasion that I blow dry or curl my hair, I'll use the TRESemmé Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray to protect my hair. It smells nice, it comes out in a fine mist and it leaves my hair shiny and smooth all while keeping my hair from being damaged.

Hair Brush
I have very tangly hair due to it being so fine. Brushing my hair was always a chore I hated because it usually hurt and took a long time. Everything has changed since I got the Tangle Teezer. It gets out tangles and knots in seconds. It's seriously magical and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Dry Shampoo
I wash my hair every other day so for second day hair, I use Dove Invigorating Dry Shampoo to make my hair look less oily. The smell isn't too over powering and as long as you're careful with the distance you're spraying from, you won't end up with white in your hair. It also provides lots of volume.

Texturizing Spray
This is an expensive little product so for special occasions I'll use a some of this Orbe Dry Texturizing Spray. It gives a crazy amount of volume and texture. It's amazing!

Hairspray
As I rarely curl my hair, I don't often use hairspray but I thought I should include it anyway because finding a hairspray I actually like has been a hard task. I use the TRESemmé Perfectly (un)Done Waves Ultra Brushable Hold Hairspray. I hate hairsprays that make my hair feel hard and crunchy so this one is ideal for me. The hold isn't anything too special but it leaves my hair feeling naturally movable.

What hair products do you swear by?

I have many, many more hair products, these are just the ones I use most often, so let me know if you'd like to see a hair product collection post.

How I did my Makeup in High School





Doing a post like this has been on my list for a while and now it's a really popular youtube tag. I have always had an interest in makeup but like a lot of young girls, I didn't have the budget or the skills to ensure my makeup looked good.
In high school I mostly wore eyeshadow. I only wore concealer under my eyes and rarely ever wore foundation. I hated lip gloss and lipstick and I didn't start doing my brows until a few years ago. I didn't understand bronzer, had never heard of highlighter and thought my cheeks were naturally too rosy to wear blush. Below, I recreated my three most worn makeup looks from High School. I tried to copy the technique (or lack of technique) that I used to apply my makeup.

Grade 9
 
Annabelle Eyeshadow Duo in Kir Royal and Black Revlon Eyeliner
It was my first year in high school and I wanted to look super grown up so what did I do? That's right, I went heavy on the black liner. I would actually line my lower lashes (not the waterline), then use makeup remover to remove it leaving only a very thin line right at my lashes.

Grade 10 & 11
Claire's Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette with Lancome Eyeliner in Black Coffee
I got super into the shimmers in the middle of high school but I tamed it down with the brown liner. I didn't know how to blend and I used a very shimmery, white highlight on my brow bone. These eyeshadow came in a rainbow palette with 48 shadows. I'm just thankful I went for the neutral shades and not the bright blues.

Grade 12
Clinique Colour Surge Eyeshadow Trio in Posh Squash, Spicy and Champagne with Lancome Eyeliner in Black Coffee
My makeup was getting to be better quality once I hit my last year of High School. Believe it or not this was actually the look I wore to my grad dance with bright red lipstick.


While I'm not exactly embarrassed with my High School makeup, I'm very thankful my beauty skills have improved.
What style of makeup did you go for in High School?

Best Packaging: Cheap vs. Highend





I know the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" but I can't help but judge a product by it's packaging. Really nice packaging can make a lackluster product seem much better than it is, conversely, a great product with tacky packaging can seem kinda lame.
While the most important thing about a product is obviously the formula, the product's packaging is also important. Often times high end products are more expensive in a large part due to very luxurious packaging, but the packaging on inexpensive products can be just as good. Of course this post wouldn't be complete without mentioning the worst packaging too. 

Highend


Charlotte Tilbury
Charlotte Tilbury is my favourite packaging of all time. It's rose gold and the attention to detail is very impressive. It also feels extremely luxurious and well made. There is quite a bit of weight to it and it doesn't feel like plastic (although I think it probably is). Just looking at it makes me happy.

Urban Decay
Specifically the packaging on their eyeshadows is beautiful. These are expensive little products at $22 each and I'm pretty sure that's partly due to the ornate packaging.The lid is partially clear so you can see the shadow, but the rest of the lid is very detailed. The packaging is also a dark metallic, almost steel like in colour. I am very much a fan.

Hourglass
Hourglass is another luxury brand with beautiful packaging. The colour and unique shape is what I like the best about this packaging. It does feel a little bit more light and plastic than other luxury brands.

Cheap


Sleek Makeup
This is a well named brand because their packaging is quite sleek. It's very thin and black but feels very sturdy and well made. Plus there is a quality mirror included in the palettes.

Sonia Kashuk
Glass products from drugstore brands automatically make them feel more luxurious and the brushed glass and matte lid on this Sonia Kashuk concealer makes it look like a highend product.

Milani
Now the actual packaging on this one is very minimalist. It's just a clear lid with a gold base but the flower imprint on the product is what makes this so special to me. I think this is such a unique and beautiful way to package your product. I just love it.

And the award for worst packaging goes to...
Benefit Box 'O Blushes
Now to be fair this was a limited edition Christmas release so I'm not going to be too hard on them but this packaging is so clunky and hard to store. Plus I'm not a huge fan of looking at the Christmas theme in August. However I did get 5 blushes, a bronzer and a highlight for the price of one regular sized blush, so I can live with the terrible packaging. 

As you can tell I favour packaging that looks very sleek and pretty. There are other brands that have really cute and fun packaging (i.e. Too Faced, Benefit, theBalm) that didn't make my cut.
What Brands do you think have the best packaging?

Summer Beauty Haul




I've picked up a few beauty items this Summer and I thought I would share them all with you in a haul post. These are items I got between June and August including some Birthday presents. Since I've been using some of these products for a while. I have some mini reviews to go along each product.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette
I'll start with my favourite product I got this summer. This was a birthday gift from my parents and I have been wearing it every day since. It's seriously makeup changing.
The first powder, Dim Light, is perfect for setting your makeup all over the face because it isn't shimmery but it gives your face the most natural glow while minimizing pores. The middle shade, Incandescent Light, is actually my least favorite of the three. It has tiny flecks of micro-glitter which makes it a nice highlighter. The final shade, Radiant Light, I have been loving using as a bronzer topper. I wear it around the perimeter of my face on top of a matte bronzer and it makes it look like I have a nice natural tan. I'm totally in love with this palette.
Din Light, Incandescent Light, Radiant Light
Annabelle Stay Sharp Self Sharpening Waterproof Lip liner in Vintage
This is a great lip liner from a Canadian brand I don't give enough love to. This liner is self-sharpening which is totally amazing as you can always be assured you'll get a sharp precise line. This colour Vintage, is also great for going under so many of my darker pink lipsticks.

Ardell Demi Wispies
After hearing so many bloggers talk about these lashes I just had to try them for myself. Applying lashes is definitely still a weakness of mine but I like how they look. Dramatic, but not too dramatic. You can see me wearing them here.

L.A Girl Glazed Lip Paint in Blushing
I picked up this inexpensive lip colour this summer. It is a really lovely, pigmented colour. The formula is super wet and since it's in a squeeze tube with no real good applicator, I would strongly suggest applying this with a lip brush (i.e. paint the colour on). It stays fairly wet and doesn't dry down very much which makes it prone to smudging so I wouldn't suggest eating with it on.

Marc Jacobs Sephora Birthday Gift
For this years Beauty Insider birthday gift from Sephora you got a choice of this Marc Jacobs duo or a Fresh Skincare set. I obviously went for the makeup and I've quickly become obsessed with this lipstick. It is one of the most comfortable lipsticks I've ever worn. It's not matte so it has a bit of a slip but it's super long-lasting, even through eating. Plus this shade, 216 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is gorgeous.
The liner is also super creamy and opaque, and it is the most long lasting pencil eye liner I've tried.

Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner in Eggplant
I've talked about my love for the Maybelline Gel Liners before so I'll keep this brief. The colour is very nice. It has a bit of a shimmer but it's a dark purple so it's more natural looking than you'd think.

Did you pick up any new products this summer?