Everyday neutrals with MAC, Rouge Bunny Rouge and my Z Palette

I thought it might be fun to do a quick post featuring my most used, day to day, eyeshadows!

Now, I'm not very adventurous with my lids. I like neutrals and taupes - in my opinion, there's no way to go wrong with them. And since I have blue eyes, brows tend to emphasize them so I tend to gravitate towards them.

From left to right, we've got: MAC Shroom, All That Glitters, Omega and Woodwinked, Rouge Bunny Rouge Bohemian Waxwing, MAC Satin Taupe, Bronze, Smut and Brun.

Once again, in the same order MAC Shroom, All That Glitters, Omega and Woodwinked, Rouge Bunny Rouge Bohemian Waxwing, MAC Satin Taupe, Bronze, Smut and Brun.

So overall pretty boring huh?

But at the same time, they are so simple to use. I often use All That Glitters all over my lid with Omega in the crease, and Brun on the lashline. More often than not, Brun is used on my brows, if I can't be bothered to use my Make Up For Ever Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector which is a tad more time consuming. Some of my favorite 1 step, all over lid colors are MAC's Satin Taupe and Rouge Bunny Rouge's Bohemian Waxing, which is a new addition. Woodwinked is also very flattering as an all over lid color, especially with a black winged gel liner. I keep going back to Bronze, Smut and Brun to add depth to my crease. Smut looks very muddy in the swatch, but it actually works well in the crease - it is actually more plummy than in the swatch. Shroom is my go-to to add brightness in my eye's inner corner.

So there you have it - my most used shadows, safely enclosed in my Z-Palette.

What are your most used shadows? Do you keep them together in a palette or separate?

Bite Beauty Luminous Lip Library - Review & Swatches

After having tried their Bite Beauty Color and Shine to Go minis (reviewed here) I knew Bite Beauty was a brand that was to be on my radar. Bite Beauty is an all-natural lip care company that operates out of downtown Toronto. I had no idea they were a Canadian company! Their goal was to create lipstick that was good enough for women to eat - I can't say I would, but the fact that these lipsticks are edible make me think they can't be bad to put on your lips!

When I saw the Bite Beauty Luminous Lip Library available on Sephora's website, I knew I needed to give it a try. I was excited to try 9 Bite Beauty colors - who knows, maybe I'll find my perfect color?

This is what the palette arrived looking as, all packaged up.

 And inside that was this:

And this is what the actual palette looks like! It has a sleek cardboard casing. It feels quite sturdy.

And the inside looks like this! It comes with a small lip brush, which is actually quite good. It has rounded edges which makes lipstick application easy.

From left to right: Cava, Rosette, Pepper, Fig, Cin Cin, Poppy, Carménère, Rosé, Tannin

All, and I mean all of the lipsticks, are incredibly pigmented. They are smooth and creamy - really one of the best formulas I've come across. None of these contain shimmer, or glitter bit. They have a semi-glossy finish - they are still quite opaque and creamy so I wouldn't say they are glossy. They do not dry my lips out whatsoever.

My favorite of the bunch are Pepper, Rosé, Tannin and Cin Cin. Even if it looks a bit orange in my swatch, Cin Cin was quite flattering on, especially with some gold tones for eye makeup. 

I can't speak much of the Prep, Prime and Protect balms, but the Prep was quite pleasant to put on under a lipstick. Personally, I would have preferred to have more lipstick colors in the palettes rather than try on a lip primer and balm. I don't use lip primer, and I have way too many balms already!

If you don't mind applying your lipstick with a brush, I think this would be a great buy! I personally don't have the time to apply my lipstick with a brush in the morning, but I don't mind doing it for a night out. Plus, it's fun to explore different colors you might not think of buying in a full-sized tube!

Hope you all had a great weekend! I visited my grandparents (who live in the middle of nowhere) and it was a blast! My brother and I took some scenic pictures - perhaps I'll post them this week.

Thank you for reading!

Snow themed mani with Essie's Bikini So Teeny

When nailpolishcanada.com first contacted me to participate in their Holiday Nail Art Challenge, I wasn't sure I'd be good enough for it. Me? Nail art? I can't say I know my way around that. But, I'm a pretty creative person, so I decided I'd give it a go anyway - worst that can happen is that I'll have fun with my nail polishes!

This week's theme was snow! So I put myself to the task and came up with this manicure!

I didn't want to create anything complicated (because I'm not that good!) but wanted something sparkly and layered.

For this manicure, I used the following products:

From left to right: Essie Bikini So Teeny, Orly Twilight, China Glaze White on White, Nicole by OPI It's All About the Glam, OPI Pirouette My Whistle, and Seche Vite Top Coat.

I started with two coats of Bikini So Teeny, which in itself is beautiful. Then I used Orly's Twilight just on the tip of my nails. I then dotted China Glaze's White on White as well as Nicole by OPI's It's All About Glam on my nails with a pencil (#klassy) as well as a mechanical pencil (#professional) to get the different sizes of "snowflakes". After this, I added OPI's Pirouette My Whistle on top of everything to create some dimension. A coat of Seche Vite to finish it off and VOILA!

I had so much fun doing this!

The Holiday Nail Art Challenge is live on nailpolishcanada.com and you can vote for your favorite snow manicure here. Of course, I'd really appreciate if you could vote for me!

For my all my American friends - Happy Thanksgiving! Our Canadian one has already passed, but yum, I could totally eat stuffing and sweet potatoes again! That's my kind of comfort food!

bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow Quad in The Truth! Swatches and Review!

Yes, I know, here I am again about the bareMinerals eyeshadows. I won't babble too much on how amazing these are but here's a quick recap of my last review of The Happy Place:

- the eyeshadows are AMAZINGLY soft but do not crumble
- the shadows are amazingly pigmented
- they are the longest lasting shadows I've ever come across. Period.

So, in case you're considering buying these, here are swatches of another palette from the bareMinerals READY Quads, The Truth.

The packaging is sturdy and smooth. Much like NARS packaging actually.

On to the swatches!

 From left to right: Serendipitous, Magnetism, Fate, and Apropos

All of the shadows are pigmented and easy to blend. In fact, those swatches were done with a quick swipe of my fingers in the pan.

I've gotten a lot of use out of Magnetism for my everyday makeup, usually blending Apropos lightly in the crease. Serendipitous has replaced my MAC Shroom as I find is easier to blend, and more pigmented. I suppose I do have similar MAC in my collection that are comparable to these shadows, but the quality of this palette is superior to any dupes I might have.

Hope this helps in case you're contemplating these purchasing these palettes! They'd make a wonderful gift for any makeup lovers in your family/friends! This palette would particularly be perfect for the neutral lovers out there!

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I want to take a moment and thank everyone who entered my 100 follower giveaway. It means a whole lot to me that some of you took the time to tweet, retweet, mention on blogs, and generally support me. Thank you! I truly couldn't do it without all your support!!

Congratulations to Sabine for winning my 100 followers giveaway! You package is on its way to you!

Shopping my stash for the perfect nude lip

Lately, I've been searching for the perfect nude. And I'm finding the search (from behind my computer) absolutely impossible. It is SO HARD to tell from online swatches whether a nude will flatter your skintone or not.

After a twitter conversation with the lovely Claire from aucuparia brumalis about "the nudes" I decided to shop my stash and see what my favorite nudes are!

Here's what I came up with:

 From left to right, we've got: MAC Blankety, MAC Hue, MAC Hug Me, Estee Lauder Crystal Baby, Marcelle Rouge Xpression in Sincerity, Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Cream in White Russian, Clinique Chubby Stick in Whole Lotta Honey, MAC Cremesheen Glass in Boy Bait.

From left to right, again: MAC Blankety, MAC Hue, MAC Hug Me, Estee Lauder Crystal Baby, Marcelle Rouge Xpression in Sincerity, Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Cream in White Russian, Clinique Chubby Stick in Whole Lotta Honey, MAC Cremesheen Glass in Boy Bait.

My daily favorites of the bunch are Estee Lauder Crystal Baby and the Clinique Chubby Stick. As nudes though, Crystal Baby literally looks pink on me, and the Chubby Stick is too dark to be a true nude. I love the creaminess of MAC's Blankety, but it tends to make me look a bit washed out, and if my lips are dry, it emphasizes that fact. I almost never reach for MAC Hue or Hug Me as I find them quite sheer, and prefer a more opaque finish. Plus, both of them are harsh on my already dry lips. Hue isn't incredibly flattering on me, and I never think to use Hug Me even though I like the color on me.

The closest "nude" I own that I consider nude on my skintone, is actually the Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Cream in White Russian. I got this lip gloss in a Sephora 100 point perk and really really like it. I'm not a lip gloss girl at all - I much prefer lipsticks. But this lip gloss' combination of being plumping (and not being allergic to the plumping agents for once!) and the perfect nude made me fall in love. Perhaps nudes work better on me as glosses? MAC's Boy Bait on the other hand, is too sheer  to give me the "nude lip effect".

Have you ever been on a mad search for the perfect nude? Right now, I'm contemplating NARS Pago Pago, MAC's High Tea, and various Le Metier de Beaute Lip Cremes.

Have you found your perfect nude lip? If so, please share! I'm so interested to know what your favorite nude lip products are!

bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow Quad in The Happy Place - Swatches & Review!

You probably already all know, from many reviews, that my eyelids are pretty oily. I always, always need to use a primer (my fave of the moment being Make Up For Ever's Eye Prime) and the use of primer doesn't always keep some of my MAC shadows from creasing (Vex, Copperplate, Club are the culprits here).

So when I tell you, that this bareMinerals palette lasted 15 hours on my lids, without creasing, would you believe me?

I kid you not, this is what happened. I applied these eyeshadows to my eyes (after primer) for a full day of work, which included traveling, sweating (aka, lugging stuff from a van in heels) and general running around. When I got home, at about 11pm, I barely had any creasing. The only spot the shadow moved at all was on the outer corner of my eye. And that was probably from rubbing. I was absolutely floored.

If you have oily lids, or have problems with shadows not lasting on your lids, this is the palette for you!

 

Peace has a bit of shimmer in it, and is of a beige/pink color. Imagine is a rose shimmery shade, à la MAC All that Glitters, but much better and smoother. Exhale reminds me of MAC's Copperplate but is more pigmented and more taupe. I don't think I own anything like Euphoria, and I absolutely love it.

From left to right: Peace, Imagine, Exhale and Euphoria

These swatches were taken under new lighting (my lightbox!) so they might look a bit different than usual. But rest assure, they are pretty color accurate!

The texture of these shadows is very soft and smooth. But unlike Sleek shadows, they do not have the tendency to crumble (being too soft). You do not need to load up your brush with product to have these show up on your lid. You only need a tiny bit of the shadow. If you put too much on your brush, you might get a bit of fall out, so be careful!

I honestly can't say anything wrong about this palette. The shadows are smooth, pigmented, not dry, creamy, and they are ridiculously long wearing. I guess the only tiny little thing I'd say is that they are so pigmented that it might take someone who isn't used to wearing much makeup, a bit of getting used to. But honestly, my mother has one of their palettes, and while she'd not a makeup pro of any kind, she absolutely loves it.

There are quite a few variations of these palettes available at Sephora if The Happy Place doesn't float your boat. I purchased mine of Ebay because I do find them quite expensive (C$38). I would've gladly payed full price though, had I known The Happy Place was this good! It could also make an excellent Christmas gift. Too bad my mom already has one!

Hope you're having a good week! Don't forget to enter my 100 follower giveaway here! Only a few days left to enter!

A drugstore search for the perfect bordeaux lipstick!

I find inspiration in the strangest places.

This past week, I had to attend trade show for high school kids, in order to promote a scholarship we offer at my work. One of the high school girls was wearing the most gorgeous bordeaux colored red lipstick. It was absolutely stunning on her and sent me on a mad dash to find that exact color as my local drugstores (yes, plural, because I only buy on sale!). Here's what I came up with!

I tried to find the deepest reds, without leaning too much towards a wine color. It wasn't an easy task! My picks ended up being the Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Bordeaux (HA!) 124, the Marcelle Rouge Xpression in 851 Obsession, and the Revlon Lip Butter in 040 Red Velvet.

They kind of look like a little family in their silver tube!

Here they are swatched on my hand.

 Left to right: Rimmel Bordeaux, Marcelle Obsession, Revlon Red Velvet

And on ma face!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Bordeaux

Marcelle Rouge Xpression in Obsession

Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet

The verdict?

Well, my favorite was definitely Revlon's Lip Butter in Red Velvet. It's so pigmented! It was smooth on application and the color is stunning. However, Rimmel's Bordeaux is the closest match to the color I was looking for - the color is stunning on. It was also the easiest lipstick to apply because the formula wasn't slippery at all. But it was a bit drying. My least favorite is the Marcelle Xpression out of the three. The formula was a bit dry, and not what I expect of the Xpression line which I'm already a fan of. It also applied a bit patchy.

If you're looking for a drugstore lipstick of the bordeaux variety, I highly suggest the Revlon Lip Butter in Red Velvet. The Rimmel lipstick was also quite good!

What is your favorite drugstore lipstick? Do you find any line particularly moisturizing? 

I hope you had a great weekend! I spent most of mine trying to finalize a light box for the blog since daylight is sparse these days! And then the rest of it pretty much relaxing. It was good!

Don't forget to enter my 100 followers giveaway here!

MAC's famous Girl About Town lipstick - Review + Swatches!

Girl About Town lipstick by MAC is a classic fuchsia that you might have in your collection already, especially if you love a statement lip. It's quite a popular MAC item, and I never really knew why until now.

I picked this lovely lipstick on a whim as a BACK 2 MAC item on my vacation to Toronto this summer, remembering somewhere in the back of my mind that Miss Pixiwoo had used it in a recent makeup tutorial. I haven't had time to wear it much until this past week!

I've often been disappointed in MAC's lipstick texture. I often find them drying, and difficult to apply smoothly. My lips are already dry, and adding a MAC lipstick usually makes the matter worst. The Amplified Creme finish of the MAC's Girl About Town, however, is absolutely dreamy. The lipstick glides smoothly on application, and had incredible pigmentation.

The swatch on my hand consists of one swipe of the lipstick. Not too shabby!

And on my lips. Isn't the finish just stunning? I love that sheen!

I love that this lipsticks somehow (and without shimmer/glitter) makes my lips feel fuller. I also like the color against my complexion. I must admit however, that the color is a bit too bright for my personal everyday taste - I've worn it dabbed on lightly to work and it was still quite bright. Still though, I'm very content in having this lipstick in my collection for when I'll fancy something fun!

Girl About Town wore easily for 4 hours, including eating and drinking, and left a pleasant pink stain.

Of all my MAC lipsticks, I'd say this beats them all in formula and pigmentation. This is one for the books!

Hope you're having a great week! Don't forget to enter my 100 followers giveaway here for chance to win a Bioderma makeup remover bottle, a Dior Addict Extreme Lipstick and a Wet & Wild palette!

Buckling down on my skin care routine for winter!

Anybody else lazy or inconsistent with their skin care routine? I'm guilty of this. But my skin has always looked its best when it is exfoliated and moisturized, so Annick is going to have to make an effort.

Here's my current usual routine.

Morning: 
- Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser
- That's it.

Yes, that's right, no moisturizer. It's a sin.

Night: 
- Say Yes to Cucumbers Facial wipe for makeup removal OR Bioderma. I make sure that my eye makeup is FULLY removed. Cleanse with Cetaphil to remove any residue.
- I usually spritz my face with Caudalie Eau de Beauté.
- Sometimes I moisturize with my Nuxe Crème Prodigieuse.

That's it! I really should be ashamed. I don't do much to my skin, and it shows.

I would like my skin care to look like this.

Morning:
- Cleanse with Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser
- Moisturize with Nuxe Crème Prodigieuse

Night:
- Ditch the use of facial wipes, and use Bioderma for makeup removal. It is much less irritating to my skin.
- Cleanse with the Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser + Clarisonic OR cleanse with a non-abrasive exfoliating cleanser. Point is, re-introduce regular exfoliation to my routine. My skin loves being exfoliated.
- Use a non-drying toner such as the Caudalie Eau de Beauté regularly
- Moisturize every night with the Nuxe Crème Prodigieuse, or a heavier moisturizer.

Weekly:
- Do a clay-type face mask once a week, or more.

Goals:
- Introduce some type of exfoliating cleanser when the Clarisonic feels a bit too much.
- Hopefully introduce a night cream as it gets colder.
- Perhaps find a gentler makeup remover than my Bioderma ... like a cleansing balm. They've always intrigued me (I may or may not have an Antipodes cleansing balm on its way to me right now).

I feel like my skin easily goes on oil-production overdrive if I don't keep moisturizer in my routine. And I'm such a lazy bum when it comes to applying it.

Winter always wreaks havoc on my skin. As an oily skinned gal, my skin become oily and flaky by the end of the day, yet tight and dry at other times - it's just terrible. This is why it becomes important for me to crack the whip!

Do you have any skin care goals for winter? Does your routine change dramatically?

Don't forget to enter my 100 follower giveaway here!

A giveaway and a THANK YOU!

100 + followers! 200 + posts! That's something to celebrate about don't you think?

So as a thank you for your support and dedication, I bring to you a giveaway!

I really am grateful for all the people who follow me, read my blog, leave comments and just generally support me. This blog isn't much of anything without people reading it. I started it because I needed something fun to take up some of my spare time and here I am, more than 1 1/2 years later, still at it somehow. And I honestly can't say I could've done it without all of you! So here's a token of my appreciation!

The prizes?

- Dior Addict Extreme lipstick in Plaza. Love this lipstick - it is reviewed here if you're interested.
- A 250ml Bioderma bottle, one of my favorite makeup remover.
- Wet & Wild Comfort Zone palette - it is reviewed here if you're interested. I absolutely love this palette!

What do you have to do to win? Fill out this Rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open internationally! :) 

Thanks again everyone for all your support! The winner will be picked in two weeks!

Hope you have a great week!