Halloween Nails!

I almost didn’t bother doing these, but after my last manicure chipped after only one day, last night I decided to go ahead with these, instead of doing nail art for my Halloween costume, which wouldn’t have made much sense anyways!

These are very simple, and nothing spectacular, but I really like how they are almost entirely monochromatic. My left hand turned out pretty good, I think, and it looks like I managed to escape streaking for once!

I used Sephora by OPI in Caliente Coral for the orange, Revlon in Posh for the pumpkin stems, and China Glaze in Smoke and Ashes for the black details. (Which I think makes it look just a little cooler, since it gives the designs a little sparkle, even if that didn’t come out in the pictures).

In case it isn’t clear… Thumb to pinkie: Spider web, web and dangling spider, kitty and the moon, jack-o'-lantern, and bats.

Those are all spider webs, minus, of course, the jack-o'-lantern. Excuse the shrinkage on the tip of my thumb-nail… Stupid Seche… -_-

I hope you like these! Maybe they can be inspiration for some last minute Halloween nails of your own? I’d love to hear what you’ve done to your nails for the holiday, and if you have pictures or a blog post about them, feel free to send me a link in the comments. I also love seeing or hearing about your costumes, plans, or make-up… Basically, I just love Halloween!

I hope everyone has a fun, candy-filled, and safe time this Halloween! =)

Contest Link: Another MAC Lipstick giveaway

Just like the one a few days ago, Trapped In A Fashion Paradise is doing a giveaway for the MAC lipstick of the winner’s choosing!

This contest is open internationally and closes on the November 11th, so make sure to enter soon!

http://trappedinafashionparadise.blogspot.ca/2012/10/50-followers-giveaway-mac-lipstick-of.html

=)

My Current Nails: Matte Bronze Nails

Hey, this is just a really quick post to show off my extremely simple—but in my opinion, very cute—nails!

And here are the polishes I used, China Glaze Harvest Moon and Sephora by OPI’s Matte Top Coat:

It’s kinda odd how much I like this, since China Glaze’s Stone Cold is a very similar idea, but with more of a pewter metallic which is automatically mattefied. However, I really love the look of the mattefied bronze polish here!

I never really fell in love with the matte polishes while they were cool, but I think now I’ll be trying them out with some types of polishes I never tried before, because I am really loving this pairing! Also, my Harvest Moon is a lot more empty already than I had thought… I don’t want to run out! It’s easily one of my favourite polishes, and now I even have one more use for it!

What are you wearing on your nails? Leave me your comments! =)

Contest Link: MAC Lipstick Giveaway

Just wanted to let you know about the awesome little giveaway over at Confessions of a Makeup Addict. Nikki is giving away one MAC lipstick of the winner’s choice, and the contest is open internationally!

Make sure to enter before November 15th (I think. I couldn’t find the closing date, so I counted it out from the number of days left on the Rafflecopter) if you’re interested, and good luck! =)

http://niksconfessional.blogspot.ca/2012/10/mac-giveaway.html

October 2012 (and my final) Glymm Box

So I got my final glymm box this morning, after a mini-panic. I checked my email when I woke up, because I was lazy, and didn’t want to get up yet unless my box had arrived. The Canada Post site said that it had been, so I went to go get it from the mail box. But it wasn’t there. No one had brought it inside, and it wasn’t in the box, but why did Canada Post mark it delivered? It wasn’t until almost 3 hours later that it got to my house! But at least it didn’t get sent somewhere else.

Anyway, on to the box:

This month is breast cancer month, or something of the sort, hence the pink ribbon on the card there. I do hope that if they are donating money of ours to breast cancer research that they are doing it right. I also hope that they did donate some of the subscription money, otherwise, why bother theming the box/bag? This isn’t a holiday that you decorate for… (*rant over*) And the bag inside is of course:

Pink. Very pink. I like it. Also, in case you were wondering what is inside that little pink ribbon card:

Oh thank god. No more having to flip back and forth between the site and my box and Live Writer (I use Windows Live Writer for these posts, I don’t directly use Blogger… not that you probably care…). I’m glad Glymm listened to their customers about something. Oh, and there was one little extra in the bag:

A pink ribbon pin. That they kinda put together poorly. The ribbon is on the side you need to pin to whatever it’s going on. Luckily, the pin was very thin, and I just bent it open, wiggled the ribbon to the other side, pinched it closed, and popped it on my bag.

On to the interesting part!

Johnson & Johnson Baby Oil:

Full Size: $6.49 for 592 ml
Sample Size: 88 ml
Approx. Sample Value: $0.96

This was technically a bonus product this month, but it was the first thing I pulled out. This is supposed to, I guess, advertise the “Glymm MAMA” box that Glymm is adding soon. Whatever, as a non-mother I am very not interested. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with this; the card suggests using it as make-up remover, but I’m not sure I want to smother my face in baby oil. I might use small amounts as a cuticle oil, or for when my hands get super dry, as they are prone to do in the colder weather. (I took the size/price information above from Well.ca, which is basically an online drugstore, since Glymm didn’t provide any.)

Miss Jessie’s Baby Buttercrème:

Full Size: $9 for 59 ml (Approx. uses: 5)
                         $32 for 237 ml (Approx. uses: 20)
                     or $58 for 473 ml (Approx. uses: 40)
Sample Size: Full “travel size” (59 ml)
Approx. Sample Value: $9.00

At first I was worried that, after the baby oil, then the name of this, that this was a mom box, but it’s just the name. I think, after looking at the product description on the Glymm site, that this is a softer-scented version of another Miss Jessie product. This is surprising, since the buttercream cupcake smell of this product is pretty strong. I love it, but I can imagine lots of people would be disgusted by something this sweet and sugary smelling.

I used the tiny bit of this from the top of the seal on the jar on the ends of my hair when I opened the bag, and not only did it smell really good and make my hair pretty soft, it also hardcore intensified the curls in my ponytail! I look forward to using this product again.

Cyberderm Every Morning Sun Whip:

Full Size: $38.00 for 50 ml (Approx. uses: 33)
Sample Size: ~3 ml
Approx. Sample Value: $2.28

I’m glad Glymm didn’t send us doubles of both Cyberderm products from last month. Also, since the brand is apparently the “sunscreen company” or something, I’m glad we actually get to try out one of their sunscreens. I’m a little sad they didn’t send this for the spring or summer months, though, when I spend way more time outside, and when my skin might actually require a sunscreen. It’s also really expensive, so I’m very unlikely ever to purchase this. I’ll definitely give it a try though, since it’s meant to have a matte finish.

Cyberderm H2O Hydration:

Full Size: $60.00 for 50 ml (Approx. uses: 166)
Sample Size: ~3 ml
Approx. Sample Value: $3.60

Let me just start off by mentioning that I’m not impressed to be receiving a repeat of this product. It was only a couple months ago that we received this and another Cyberderm product packaged in syringes. Different packages don’t make this a new product. I don’t have much else to say about this one, because I still have most of the first one because I didn’t like it. I didn’t feel like it did much for my skin and I didn’t like the scent at all. I might eventually use this up, or else pass it on. *Shrugs.*

Lash Card:

Full Size: $6.99 for 10 (Approx. uses: 20)
Sample Size: 2 cards
Approx. Sample Value: $1.40

Okay, what? Is this necessary? No… its a piece of cardboard. Do people really get that much mascara on their eyelids? I don’t… I also don’t think you need more than 2 if you do use them… surely you can use each one multiple times! Also, Michelle Phan had a video maybe a couple weeks ago about makeup hacks using business cards, and this was basically one of them, using the card as a shield to put on a lot of mascara. I think that would be just as effective, cheaper, and less wasteful, but maybe that’s just me. I’ll use these to try them out, but I honestly think it would only make putting on mascara difficult, which it really never should be…

Femme Couture Lightening Lash Mascara:

Full Size: $14.00 for 0.4 oz..
Sample Size: full size
Approx. Sample Value: $14.00

While I was sceptical about this mascara when I first pulled out the wand, because of the tiny, hard little spikes instead of the usual bristles, I am actually pleasantly surprised with this mascara. It goes on super easy and really lengthens my lashes without clumping. The hard bristles seem to be pretty good for separating, as well.

However, this mascara doesn’t seem to be waterproof, and while I haven’t had a chance (fortunately) to test its non-waterproofness, I am very unlikely to ever repurchase this unless they also have a waterproof formula. I hate the unpredictability of water-soluble makeup; I’d rather fight with it and my makeup remover to take it off, than have it come off easy whether I want it to or not!

And, in case you want to take a look yourself, here is this month’s product card:

Approximate Total Value: $31.24

Overall, I think this was a relatively good month. The total value was much higher than the total price of the bag itself, and there were two full-sized products, one of which was even makeup that ISN’T a lip product! While I’m glad that I’ll be saving the money that went to this subscription every month, and though I’m sad that I’ll have one less thing to look forward to in my mail box, I am glad that I had a good final month. I am disappointed, though, about getting a repeat on the Cyberderm moisturizer, and about getting a sunscreen for fall. I also technically don’t count the lash cards as a beauty product, since you could do the same thing with a business card, as proven by Michelle Phan a few videos ago. Still contented though.

And, in case you’re interested in signing up for Glymm, please consider signing up through my link below:

https://www.glymm.com/share/youwerefantastic95

I won’t be receiving boxes anymore, but I still get points from referrals that I can use towards the Glymm store, so I’d be grateful for the points if you’re going to get a subscription anyways =)

Let me know if you got a box this month, if everything was the same, and what you thought of the products! Thanks for reading!

The New Influenster

Just a quick—and possibly uninteresting—post for today!

If you’ve been following beauty blogs or vlogs for a while, you may already have heard of Influenster and their VoxBoxes, which they send out free to people who qualify for their themed boxes.

They’ve recently redone the site, and it’s a little more straightforward than it used to be. However, even now it’s very hard to tell what boxes you might qualify for. For upcoming boxes you might qualify for, there are tasks given to you on your profile page, however, ultimately it’s very hard to tell how they will decide who they send the boxes to.

For example, I did everything that was asked of me for the Beauty Blogger boxes they recently sent out, but they decided that I didn’t qualify for that one. You might be able to tell I’m a little bitter. I’ll stop ranting now.

Anyways, you basically choose things you’re interested in and do tasks connected to them to earn badges, which should earn you opportunities to receive cool free product boxes. Great in theory, but it will be way cooler (and I’ll be happier to recommend them) if I ever receive a box!

Still, free stuff is always cool, so I’d still encourage you to sign up! =)

I’ll try to post something with more content and pictures soon! As always, thanks for reading! <3

Owl Nails!

So owl nails had been on my list of art I wanted to try for a long time, and I finally got around to it the other day! I’m pretty impressed with it, and I love my derpy little owls, even if they do look kinda odd. I think they’re cute!

The polishes I used were:

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mint Sorbet, Essie in Fiji, Sephora by OPI in A-Ha! Moment, ELF in Bubblegum pink, Wet’n’Wild Wild Shine in Blazed, L.C. Colors Art Deco in Black, and Revlon in Posh.

Right hand:

Right thumb:

Left hand:

So, what do you think? I love them! Have you ever tried owls? How did they turn out? Also, if the watermark super annoying, or alright? Let me know, please!

Thanks for reading!

FPP #4: Poorly Fitting Bras

Hey everyone! Sorry this post is so late. These posts are a little more work for me than my other favourites, haul, review, or nail posts, so I hope you like reading them! But that’s why this got pushed back a little, since I had a bunch of reading and such for school. Anyways, this month’s fashion pet peeve is:

Poorly fitting bras!

I was originally going to write about one way that people wear their bras wrong that bugs me, then I realised that there are so many things women do wrong when buying and wearing their bras, so I thought I’d address a few of those issues.

Before we even get to stuff that looks bad, though, I want to point out something I’ve seen mentioned on plenty of sites, including Reddit, which I agree with, and that is that if your bra is really uncomfortable or hurts you, then you are probably wearing the wrong size for you. Don’t be too embarrassed, way too many people don’t know their own size.

1. The back of your bra band should sit under your shoulder blades, and never like this:

Image taken from Blogs.VancouverSun.com

If you wear your bras high on your back like in this picture, then it probably doesn’t fit you. Maybe you’re wearing the straps too tight, but most likely your band is too big. You should be able to wear the band under your shoulder blades without it riding up if it fits you properly, preferably on the middle set of hooks. If your band is too big, but the cups fit, next time you try on bras, try a band size down, and one cup size up. For example, if you are wearing a 36C, maybe try a 34D. Cup sizes change with the band size, so a 38D will look nothing like a 42D or a 32D. If you go down in your band size, and don’t change the cup as well, then the bra will be much smaller.

2. Your straps should be able to stay on your shoulders. If they are constantly falling down, then you need to tighten them, or else risk looking a little trashy and sloppy.

Image taken from Fropki.com

It may just be that your straps are too loose, if they can be tightened, do it! Not only will it keep your straps from slipping, but it will also improve the shape and look of your bra and cleavage. If your straps are already as tight as they will go, it’s possible that you’re wearing too big a cup size, or maybe that your bra has stretched and needs replacing. If you aren’t sure which of these options applies to you, then when you go to replace your bra, try on some the same size, and some with the same band, but down a cup size (or go down one band and keep the same cup size, if it makes you feel better. Often something like a 36C will fit as well as a 34D).

One more option might be the first one I mentioned. If you are wearing the back of the bra too high, then your straps would need to be much shorter to stay put!

3. Finally, your bra’s cups should not bite into you, and you shouldn’t bubble over the edge.

Image taken from Montware.Tumblr.com

This does not look good. If you do this on purpose to make our boobs look bigger, this is not what you are doing, you just make yourself look like you don’t know how to buy a bra that fits. If your bra does this, then you need bigger cups or a bigger band, or maybe both. Go get fitted, or else grab a bunch of sizes and try on until something holds you properly if you don’t like the idea of someone sizing you.

Alternately, there is the possibility that you are wearing the bad style or bra shape for your body type. For example, balconet or demi cup bras can be difficult for bustier girls. It’s possible to get your size in one of those and still be popping out. Also some push up bras have so much padding, like the double push-up ones at Victoria’s Secret or La Senza, that you need to go up one cup size if you really want to fit into one.

There are, of course, lots of other signs and ways that a bra could fit you incorrectly, but for the purposes of this post, I wanted to stick to problems that other people can see even if you’re fully clothed. If you want more information about finding a bra that is the right size for you, I would suggest checking out Reddit.com/r/ABraThatFits.

Don’t forget to check out my other FPP posts:

1. Ugg Boots

2. Leggings as Pants

3. Lace Shirts Over Just Your Bra

And make sure to let me know what you thought of this post in the comments! Also, as my list for these is growing short, let me know any fashion pet peeves of your own that you might want me to write about. I can’t guarantee I’ll agree with you, but you might remind me of something I’d forgotten about, and either way I love to hear other people’s opinions!

Once again, thanks for reading! I hope you have an awesome rest of your day!

Boyfriend Tag

Hey, just a quick post. I found this on someone’s blog and it looked like fun to do! David’s answers are in the quotation marks, and I’ve commented below them to let you know if he was right, wrong, or somewhere in between. Enjoy =P

1. She's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
"Right now, Game of Thrones. Or Friends, or Doctor Who. Or a movie."
Not bad. Skipped Big Bang Theory, Gossip Girl, and Sherlock, though :P

2. You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does she get on her salad?
"*laughs crazily*"
...It could be Caesar, but yeah. Me no likey salad.

3. What's one food she doesn't like?
"Tomatoes"
Good job! Tomatoes are terrible.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink, what does she order?
"Coke with no ice."
Good job, unless I really wanted coffee or tea. Or if they only have Pepsi... -_-

5. What size shoe does she wear?
"Uhhh... somewhere between an 8 or a 7 or something. It fluctuates."
Well. Sorta. Usually 8. 7.5 sometimes for heels and chucks.

6. If she was collecting anything, what would it be?
"Pins. Or make-up, but you use make-up..."
Pretty good, though I'd have probably added nail polish. But pins makes the most sense if you do discount usable items.

7. What is her favourite type of sandwich?
"Grilled Cheese, with bacon if possible."
Maybe. If you are specify real cheese. I do not like fake grilled cheese. Otherwise, probably my turkey breast sandwich from Subway.

8. What would she eat everyday if she could?
"Ice cream? You can't get tired of ice cream."
There is always room for ice cream.

9. What is her favourite cereal?
"Cheerios?"
Close. Honey Nut cheerios. Or Cinnamon toast crunch.

10. What's her favourite music?
"You like a mix of... Kristy music! I don't know how to define your type of music."
I like a lot of music, though I think I'd usually generalize to "rock."

11. What's her favourite sports team?
"Gryffindor House Quidditch Team!"
Pff. Ravenclaw, for the win! =p

12. What's her eye color?
"Kind of teal-y grey, sort of blue-y grey... teal... kind of mix-y thing."
Very succinct.

13. Who's her best friend?
"Brit"
Oui

14. What is something you do that she wishes you wouldn't?
"Being late"
Sure, but I'm late too.

15. What's her heritage/where she's from?
"Canadian, but also French, British... a little bit native?"
You forgot Icelandic. Also, British both from Scotland and England.

16. You bake her a cake for her birthday, what kind of cake?
"If I went to the effort to make a cake, it would have to be the Portal cake."
Mmmm, black forest cake.

17. Did she play any sports?
"Technically no, but you competed in a physical activity."
I did dance, gymnastics, and figure skating at different points, so if those count as sports to you...

18. What could she spend hours doing?
"Shopping. Or doing makeup. Or painting her nails. Watching a show. Playing a video game. Reading magazines. Reading in general! There's lots of things!"
Lol, yeah...

19. What is one unique talent she has?
"Put up with my presence of long periods of time!"
Oh! That's terrible! <3

I don’t remember whose blog I took this from, so sorry if it was yours! I’m not going to tag anyone specific, but do it if you want to, and let me know in the comments if you do! =)

September 2012 Favourites!

Hey! Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted, but I’ve had school stuff to catch up on. Also, I know I skipped my fashion pet peeve post, and that will be up in a couple of days, but I wanted to get this one up before the end of this week! And now, for my September favourite products.

I had a few more last month than I have for a while because of my trip to Seattle, so I had several new things to play around with and fall in love with.

1. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains:

As I mentioned in my PAX/Seattle haul post, I got these in the States, though they are now available in Canada. I am absolutely in love with these! They feel great on the lips, they’re moisturizing and a tiny bit tingly because of the mint. Also, the colour is fantastic! Honey, the paler one, is a very neutral colour on my lips, and very wearable for everyday. Sweetheart, the bright pink, is just what the packaging suggests: a perfect, bright Barbie pink colour. And they last and wear wonderfully; the colour stays a long time, especially on Sweetheart, even once they stop feeling like lip balms! If I had more money, I’d probably try to pick up a couple more colours!

2. Benefit Coralista blush:

I also picked this up in the States, so it would be a bit cheaper, and I have used it so much in the past month that my NARS Orgasm blush is probably starting to feel left out (though I use it every once in a while, because I feel sorry for it!). The colour is very natural on my skin, and its harder for me to put on too much than it is with Orgasm. Also, I hadn’t noticed before I bought this, because of the overwhelming (and wonderful) scent of Sephora itself, but this blush has a bit of a fragrance. At first I didn’t like that, because it seems unnecessary, but I’ve grown to love it. If you want to see swatches, check out my Seattle Haul.

3. Urban Decay All Nighter make up setting spray:

I already knew that I loved this before I picked it up, which is why I knew I wanted it! This actually does make my makeup last so much longer than it would without this step. Also, it doesn’t smell like much of anything, and is so fine that it doesn’t make your face feel wet or anything, and it dries very quickly. And, this bottle will probably last me forever, since I only use one or two pumps of it and only when I do a full face of makeup that I need to last all day.

4. Neutrogena Norwegian Formula hand cream:

I don’t actually own this right now, but I have before. And recently my hands had started drying up and peeling terribly for some reason. Change in the weather maybe? At any rate, nothing I had was working, not Body Shop body butters, Ahava hand lotion, or any number of other pretty smelling lotions I have. Luckily, my boyfriend had this from last winter, when his hands had decided to hate him, and I made him buy this because my old bottle had worked so well for him. I’ve used this maybe 4 or 5 times since I gave up on my regular hand lotions, and they’ve almost completely stopped peeling already. I definitely need to get myself another tube of this!

5. Out the Door fast drying top coat:

And finally, one more product from the States. I don’t think you can get this one anywhere in Canada, which is really sad, because it is quickly replacing Seche Vite as my favourite topcoat. I don’t mind the smell of Seche, though that is one of people’s biggest complaints, however, I am getting very sick of the shrinkage, which OTD doesn’t cause! The only thing I prefer Seche for now is it’s shininess, which OTD is just a bit inferior for. Also, Seche is a little better for smoothing out the roughness of glitter polishes. Maybe I actually need both polishes… At any rate, this was definitely a favourite this past month, and I’m sad that I’d have to pay almost three times as much as I bought it for in Target to get it here (it’s $11 on nailpolishcanada.com, whereas it was $4.99 at Target).

Non-beauty favourites:

1. Garlic Hummus (and potato chips)

Image taken from Contest-Corner.com

All of my non-beauty favourites this month are food, and two of the three are also from the States, or at least thanks to my Seattle trip. This one is the latter, since I discovered eating hummus with potato chips during my trip one night. Our hotel had a grocery store next door, and one night, tired of fast food, my boyfriend and I decided to get a bunch of random food and ended up with deli meat, garlic sourdough bread, cheese, hummus, and potato chips. The picture is of the same brand we had in Seattle, though any Garlic Hummus is good enough for me. Mmm…!

2. Cherry Coke:

Okay. This is an obsession. I bought an entire case of this while I was in the States, and I have been very good at rationing it thus far, and I have 4 or 5 cans left. I’m pretty proud of myself, especially since last year I bought a case and drank it in about two weeks! It makes me so sad that we don’t have Cherry Coke here in Canada, even though we have before for a limited time. Also, there’s a 50’s diner in Maple Ridge that makes it from cherry flavoured syrup and regular coke. If I had more money and room to store it, I’d probably have bought more of this, because it is literally my favourite pop ever.

3. Tea (especially Irish Breakfast):

Image taken from BakersandLarners.co.uk

Finally, tea! Specifically Bewley’s Irish Breakfast tea, which I bought a couple months ago at a British Store in New Westminster. Since it’s finally cooled down around here a bit (and because I don’t have the money to buy myself a coffee or tea each morning for class), I’ve been drinking several cups of this tea pretty much every day! It’s just a regular tea, somewhat similar to Red Rose, if you know what that is, except that this tea company is so much older, and actually from Ireland, which is pretty cool. I like to drink this with milk and a fair amount of sugar. I also really like that this tea gets pretty strong, and the bags are pretty big, since all of my mugs hold at least 2 cups of hot water!

So, those were my favourite products for the month of September. I’d love to hear what you think, or what your favourite products were! Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading!