Life Preserver

Billie wanted to pop in and say hello.

Currently, she's doing one of her favorite things - kneading the bed while cuddling next to my leg. She's purring like crazy!

I don't know why, but I've been into orange a lot lately. I've just purchases a couple of orange nail polishes, bought a top that is a burnt orange color, and fell in love with an orange skirt at the store. So weird that orange is taking over my life! Sadly, I will not be sporting an orange face of makeup. Orange toned blushes make me look ill and orange lips are never flattering on my skin tone. Meanwhile, I'll be content with this polish.

China Glaze's Life Preserver came out with the Anchors Away collection for spring 2011. I'm very late to the party on this. This is a beautiful shade - which, weirdly enough, was flattering on my cool skintone. This polish applied flawlessly and I didn't have any drying issues with it. I know I'll be wearing this one again.

 

I've cleaned out some old nail polish from my drawer tonight. It's depressing to see so many beautiful shades I've only worn once. I'm hoping I can donate some duplicates to friends and/or family. My mom is quite picky unfortunately, so she almost never benefits from these clean ups. 

My week is looking quite packed! I had the day off yesterday, after spending the night enjoying the Oscars with the boy. We both pledged to take the Monday off so that we could sleep in after the show. It was really nice and relaxing. I also traveled last weekend and went a little shopping madness campaign. It was really fun though, and had a great time with my family. I want to do it again... now! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun traveling!

I am now off to bed. Cheers my friends - next post will be a haul!

5 Favorites of the Moment

Here are 5 products I've been using religiously for the past three or four weeks.

1. Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara in Black

I heard about this mascara from Glitter Geek. Arianne raved about the thickening one coat formula. I saw the mascara on sale over the holidays and decided to give it a go. Guys, this is the. best. mascara. ever. Well, after Make Up For Ever's Smokey Lash. But for a drugstore mascara, a quarter of the price of Smokey Lash, it is definitely worth its while. If you like really big and thick lashes when you're applying mascara, this is for you. The bonus of this mascara is that while it applies thickly and generously, it is not a huge pain to take it off. I've complained about the L'Oreal Voluminous formula - when you try to wipe it off with eye makeup remover, it just spreads instead of cleaning off like it should. I hated it for this reason. Le Big Show has given me no issues with removal. No waste of cotton pads with this one!

2. MAC Eyeshadow in Brun

 This is my go to color for eyebrows. I must admit, I am quite lazy when it comes to brows. I don't usually fill them in. They are quite thick so there are no patchy spots really -  I use Brun to make them look more "groomed". Lately though, I've been enjoying a clean, sharp brown, a warm coral blush and rosy lips.

3. Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Boy

This has been on regular rotation since I got it. It's the perfect - holy moly I'm late - lipstick. It's not sticky like a balm so there are no problems with hair getting in it and it's light and sheer enough that you can put it on without a mirror. I wish I could keep one in my handbag at all times but I'm too scared of damaging it!

4. MAC Cream Color Base in Virgin Isle

I've loved wearing this with almost no makeup. A big swatch of mascara, a balm and bright coral cheeks. A look I have called, What You Look Like When Walking Outside in Oh So Wintry Canada.This product is extremely pigmented. I usually use it with my Sonia Kashuk flat top foundation brush and blend it into my hand before applying to my skin.

5. Eucerin Aquaphor Skin Protectant Ointment

This has been my nighttime lip treatment savior. For some reason, lip products by Blistex don't work on me. They usually leave my lips more chapped than when I applied the products. My lips have been so dry that they have been cracking in the middle and at the corners. Enter Aquaphor. When my lips are feeling particularity dry, I dab and rub in some of this ointment. It makes my lips feel plump and nourished again. I've used it every night for a about three weeks and the condition of my lips is much better. I do however suggest that you really rub the product into your lips - I don't find it does much if I just apply it quickly. I also got a cold this week and this has saved my nose from being red and chapped. Miracle product, I swear!

Maybelline true love part II ?

What's up with Maybelline doing decent things as of late? 

The Maybelline Color Tattoo cream eyeshadows have been extremely popular in the blogosphere. And I can't say I blame this popularity. I picked out Tough as Taupe and I quite like it.

The color comes out to be quite a neutral/leaning towards cool toned taupe. I don't know that I would say I prefer this formula to MAC's Paint Pot. Yes, as most bloggers have mentioned, they are creamier than the MAC Paint Pots but I find they do not last as long on the lid. Perhaps it is only a problem with Tough as Taupe but I found that all my Paint Pots lasted longer. Tough as Taupe, however, has excellent color payoff though and looks great as a base for a smokey eye. I'd definitely recommend this product if you do no have extremely oily eyelids. 

 

Essie is Armed and Ready

Weirdly enough, I thought I had posted this polish review already - but I guess I have not!

Armed and Ready is part of Essie's Go Overboard collection for spring. I luckily scored it on Ebay before it was out in Canada. I haven't seen it out yet in my area but it shouldn't be too long.

I saw a swatch of this polish on another nail blog and knew I needed to have it. Why? Because of the beautiful subtle gold shimmer running through the polish. Plus, I was convinced that the army green color of the polish would make me feel tough. Did it?... Not really but I did think it was quite original.

Please forgive the shimmer on my ring finger. I was tempted by CND's Nail Effect in Gold Sparkle on top of this.

The shimmer running through is more subtle on the nail than in the bottle - that's a bit unfortunate. It's still visible in the sun (first picture shows it a bit) and doesn't take away from the beautiful green color. The polish itself was a bit runny but still gave good coverage with two coats.

I also wanted to add this photo of a imperfect fishtail braid I did on myself for work one day. I quite like the look of something that isn't perfect.

 

I've been keeping myself busy with work, cooking, painting and re-decorating my apartment! I've been cleaning the place out quite a bit, giving away clothing and shoes away. I'm excited to de-clutter! I keep re-thinking of ways to organize my things - it has been fun! I'm going to be working on a DYI project on a little shelf I have at home that needs some revamping - perhaps I'll post about it!

Fowl Play

I had been putting off trying on this polish for months. I bought it before Christmas, encouraged by swatches and rave reviews I saw online. However, when I brought it home, I was uninspired by it. I told my self it's purple, and purple is blah to me, and ugh, it's got sparkles. Will it be too much to wear to work? Will it look good on me? I don't know why but I questioned its existence in my life.

Dude, once I put this baby on, there was no more questions. It. is. beautiful. 

 

Yes, it does require that many photos.  

The one problem I have encountered with this polish is that Seche Vite seems to cause some tip shrinkage. In fact, I felt like tip wear happened faster because of this. But this is the hazard of using Seche Vite as your top coat all the time. I don't have any patience to wait for my polish to dry so I'm faithful to that damn Seche Vite.

If you have this polish still around your local stores, pick it up quick before it's too late!

Oops, another nude polish? And Shine of the Times!

Yup, I bought another nude polish. Oh woe is me! I'm awful. But in my defense, I was upset that day (don't even remember what about - that's how significant it was) and in my bummed state, I needed a pick me up. So I picked up Essie's Eternal Optimist.

I have had my eye on this polish for a long time. I though, hey, all the nudes of that shade I've got have shimmer. But I was sort of wrong...

Oh, did you notice the sparklersss? In a second attempt at a pick me up, I also got Essie's Shine of the Times. I audibly let out a "OH YEAYYYY!" in the grocery store and totally embarrassed myself.

I didn't want to cover my whole mani with Shine of the Times so I opted for a couple digits instead. I think it's quite subtle over this color of nail polish - I quite like it. I can't wait to try Shine of the Times over other polish... like Essie's Dive Bar, or Smooth Sailing. SO MANY OPTIONS!

From left to right, Essie Eternal Optimist, China Glaze Gelato, OPI Hawaiian Orchid and Essie Lion Around. These all look very much alike - China Glaze Gelato being the closest. Hawaiian Orchid has shimmer running through it and so does Lion Around.

 

Shine of the Time ended up looking like orange/green flakies on top of my polish. Quite a nice look. I recommend it highly if you're the type to jazz up your mani!