Winter Favourites || December 2016 - February 2017

Hey guys! Sorry I missed a couple videos there... I woke up on the 20th with one bright red eye that had glued itself shut overnight, and things just got a little worse from there. I still am hesitant to go back to wearing makeup for a few more days even though my symptoms have cleared up and I did a week of antibiotic drops, but I should be able to film tutorials again starting next Monday. Until then, I have a few different types of videos for you, starting with this product-centric Winter favourites.

I hope you don't mind looking at the products instead of my face for this one, but I wanted to get it up on time! Thanks for watching! =)

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HAUL || Killstar Clothing, New Camera & Accessories, and Random Beauty Products!

Hi guys! I have a bunch of awesome new things to share with you in today's video. First, I bought a few things from KillStar -- a gothy online clothing store. Then I talk a little about my new camera, and things I bought to go with it, as well as a new game. Then I finish up with a couple of new beauty products I picked up.

I bounce around and hit a few different categories in this one, but hopefully at least some of it is interesting to you. As always, thanks for watching and supporting!

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ROUTINE || My Nighttime Skincare Routine || March 2016

Just sharing my usual nighttime skincare routine for full-face makeup days! Or any day, really, but it's especially my go-to on days when my face is covered in makeup.

Sorry for the possibly awkward angles and focussing... I've never filmed in this room, and there was no great place for the camera. Hope nothing bothers you! Enjoy, and let me know your favourite nighttime products!

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REVIEW || Garnier SkinActive Review || Micellar Water + Wake-Up Hydra-Gel Moisturizer

Thanks to ChickAdvisor, I finally got to try out a product I've been wanting to try for a while now, but wasn't available in Canada until recently (I think): the Garnier Micellar Water! They also sent me the Garnier SkinActive Wake-Up Hydra-Gel Moisturizer, an adorable little mug, and a bag of tea from DavidsTea that was an awesome surprise! Of course, my review of these products isn't biased, and is completely honest and my own, as per usual. =)

Here's a look at what I got:

I have a mug addiction, and I love this one, even though it's tiny. It's the perfect size for my Keurig coffee, so it all works out =P... Also, the tea is pretty tasty. It's a black tea, so it has caffine, which makes sense with the wake-up theme of this box, to go with the moisturizer gel. The tea also smells great and tastes fruity and delicate. Yay, free tea!

Garnier Skin Active Micellar Cleansing Water

As it was the thing I was most excited to try out, let's start with the Micellar water. As you may or may not know, I have purchased the Bioderma micellar water before, so I do have something to compare the Garnier one too. Personally, while I liked the Bioderma, I did find it could sting my eyes a bit, and took some rubbing to remove stain-y lipsticks, and mostly didn't try to remove waterproof mascara. It was okay, but it didn't impress me.

That said, I prefer the Garnier one. It's far from perfect; it doesn't remove all my waterproof mascara, but it does give it a go... it works great on even red lipstick, and I feel like it removes all my face and eye makeup (aside from mascara) without much effort, and without stinging my eyes or leaving my skin feeling tight, which was another slight drawback of the Bioderma for me. Both cleansing waters are scentless and claim to be great for sensitive skin, but I do think the Garnier has a slight edge.

On top of that, the Garnier bottle is almost twice the size of the Bioderma (which I know comes in a larger size), but for much less money. The 500 ml Bioderma costs $27 (at London Drugs), while the 400 ml Garnier costs only $10!

Also, I only got to try the pink, regular Garnier Micellar water, but they also have a blue bottle that claims to remove even waterproof mascara... which I'll have to give a go next!

Garnier SkinActive Wake-Up Hydra-Gel Moisturizer

You may already know that I love my gel moisturizers, so I was pretty happy to be testing this one out! Gels are usually great because they are light, absorb quickly, and feel cool on the skin, where creams and oils can make my skin feel hot. This one is meant to be a day moisturizer, to make skin appear plump, fresh, and awake, containing wild berry extract, vitamin C and E, and hydro-glycerin. It also contains no parabens, and is supposed to absorb quickly and work well under makeup.

I do quite like this moisturizer. It is light, refreshing, and has a light refreshing scent to go with it (which not everyone will like, but I like the scent, personally). I don't honestly have too much to say about this, though. The biggest complaint I had is that it doesn't absorb quite as quickly as I wanted, but I found it was hydrating enough to be a pretty nice nighttime moisturizer, as well as a good one for use under makeup, if you give it a little time to set. I like it, and if you like gel moisturizers, this could be a good choice.

Let me know if you've tried either of these, and what your thoughts were! Thanks for reading!

Winter Favourites || December '15 - February '16 || Makeup, Skincare, Fashion, etc.

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8 Products I Will Repurchase

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|| Product Review || Garnier Clean+ Makeup Removing Lotion Cleaner ||

Hello again, my lovely readers! Today I have a review on the new Garnier Clean+ Makeup Removing Lotion Cleanser, which was sent to me for review by Crowdsocial. As always, my review is not biased by the fact that this product was sent to me for free. All my reviews are completely honest, because how could anyone trust me if I let brands trick me into giving good review?!

The Product:

Anyways, I'll start off by telling you a bit about the product, obviously. This product is described as a cleanser, which is meant to "dissolve impurities and waterproof mascara" while leaving your skin "feeling moisturized and protected." As seen on the card above, the product contains moringa flower extract, and no alcohol, dyes, or fragrances, making it suitable for even sensitive skin-types.

It also claims that in a single use, it makes your skin feel "comfortable and conditioned and thoroughly cleansed," and after a week of use, it claims skin will look "smoother and softer and looks healthier." Aside from the fact that all the excessive use of the word "and" is really bugging me, those seem to be some pretty nice claims; who doesn't want clean, smooth, healthy skin? Finally, this product is Dermatologist, Opthalmologist, and allergy tested. (Though doesn't it confuse you when products say this instead of saying they were approved by dermatologists and opthalmologists?)

To use, you simply massage the product onto your skin on your face and around your eyes, and then remove either with a cotton pad or with water. Meant for morning and night use, which I guess really does mean that Garnier sees this as a cleanser as much as a makeup remover.

I think that's about everything you need to know about the product, so let's get on to . . .

My Thoughts:

Personally, I'm not super impressed with this product. Even after my first use, I didn't feel it did any more than a regular makeup remover. Also, I feel like the usage method is a little odd.

First of all, no where on the package does it suggest that you shake the product before use, but I found that if I didn't shake it, all that came out was a liquid... And when you are expecting a lotion-esque product to squirt into your hands, this can be a messy surprise!

When it comes to actually using the product, I found that using it on my whole face was completely unnecessary and seems to have lead to some breakouts, even though I always followed it with my toner to remove any residual product. I don't like spreading it on my face and then wiping it off with water or a cotton pad, so I've taken to using it on a cotton pad just on my eye makeup like any makeup remover. It has the same slippy--almost oily--feeling that most makeup removers tend to have, especially the ones that separate and which need to be shaken before each use to blend the parts together.

I will agree that it removes waterproof mascara reasonably well, but I've personally never had a problem finding removers that do this at both the high-end or at the drugstore, so this isn't revolutionary in my opinion. Perhaps this product will be great for someone else, maybe with dry skin? I feel like the moisturizing properties might be too much for people with combination or oily skin-types, and that's coming from a girl who likes to use argan oil as an all-over facail moisturizer periodically on her combination skin!

One last thing that I want to point out before I finish, as I just took a glance at the ingredient list, is that this product does contain Methylparaben, so if you like to avoid parabens, this probably isn't a product for you!

You can check out more reviews on SheBlogsCanada.

Thanks for reading!

|| My Top 5 Hair Products || Great Products for Curly Hair! || {video}

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February 2014 Favourites!

Once again it’s that time of the month: Favourites time! Before we get into it, though, I just wanted to point out that, if you’re interested in watching my favourites for the first time ever, I will embed the video below (or click here to watch in HD on Youtube):

Here’s a quick peek at everything:

1. Urban Decay’s Naked 3 palette:

This probably isn’t too much of a surprise if you’ve seen my reviews of this both on here on my blog and on YouTube, but this has certainly been a favourite this month! I just really feel like these colours are super versatile and beautiful. I constantly turn to this palette whether I want a more neutral or more smoky look, it’s just awesome.

2. Dior Pure Poison eau de parfum:

This perfume is wonderful, especially if you like the smell of jasmine (or jasmine green tea, which is what I was looking for when I discovered this fantastic scent!). It’s a fairly light floral perfume, without being either too childish or too old or overpowering. I’m definitely in love with this scent and think it will be excellent for spring and summer!

3. Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser Split-End Bandage:

Another product that I’ve mentioned recently already, but this one product in particular from the Damage Eraser line has stood out for me as something that really gets along well with my hair. It manages to combat—if not fix completely—my often frizzy hair, and just makes it feel super soft without weighing it down or making it feel like anything but soft, clean hair! Definite love. (Here’s my review on the Damage Eraser line).

4. Urban Decay All-Nighter Setting Spray:

I can’t believe that I’ve never mentioned this in a favourites post before! I bought this way back when I was in Seattle for PAX 2012, and I’ve used it constantly and been super happy with it ever since. I guess, since it’s such a quick, invisible step it manages to slip my mind each month when I do my favourites posts? I’m still pretty disappointed with myself for never mentioning it though. Also, as I mentioned, I’ve had this for almost 2 years now, and I’m only about half-way through this bottle! A little goes a very long way. And it may seem like a silly step if you haven’t tried it out, but I really do feel like it helps to make my makeup last even longer than it would without the setting spray. I use it pretty much every single time I do a full face of makeup (unless I forget). As I mentioned in the video, this is much more of an All-Time favourite than just a monthly favourite.

Non-Beauty Favourites:

1. Rose Gold Watch from American Eagle

I’ve been wearing this constantly since getting it… even though I never really use it for its intended purpose (aka: telling time). I think it’s really simple and cute, though, and I love it!

2. Bagels & Cream Cheese

Image from cccuisine.ca

Yum. My favourites are everything bagels with cream cheese. I’ve had a lot of bagels this past month, since they are a yummy, filling, healthier-than-some-options breakfast or snack food. And super easy to throw together, toss in a ziploc bag, and rush out the door. The Jalapeño Asiago bagels from Tim Horton's and the Everything with Cheese bagels from Starbucks are also fantastic with cream cheese. =)

3. Gossip Girl

Image from digitalspy.ca

I finally finished, after however many years it’s been since this show ended, and I’m so glad I made it to the end finally without ever hearing who Gossip Girl was! I forgot how much I missed this gorgeous, wonderful show, and I know that one day I’ll go back and start it from the beginning again, to relive the fantastic characters! If you have never seen Gossip Girl (where have you been?!), you need it. It’s wonderful.

 

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And that’s everything! Let me know either here or on my video what your favourites this past month were, as well as what you think about any of the products mentioned above. Thanks for reading! =)

Influenster Mystery Brand Revealed!–Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser

So the mystery brand has been revealed, and it turns out those products they sent us were from Garnier Fructis’s Damage Eraser line. And, as promised, this week they sent out the full-sized products to reveal who was behind the—frankly fantastic—products they sent out in the unlabeled bottles. (If you didn’t seem my Mystery Brand VoxBox post, click here to check out my first thought on this line.)

If you remember from my last post, those first three bottles were all that they sent out for trial, and the tub at the end is a “strength reconstructive butter,” or basically a deep-conditioning treatment which it suggests you use once a week. I can’t wait to get a chance to try it out, but I fully expect that it will be just as good as the rest of the line, which I am still really pleased with! My hair had been absolutely loving this set of products for the last week!

Unfortunately, Influenster didn’t include prices on the included information card:

However, I’m fairly certain that this product, like other Garnier Fructis products can be found at pretty much any drugstore/grocery store, and I image it will be in the 4-6 dollars per bottle, and maybe a but more for the split-end serum and conditioning mask.

Also, this is only slightly related, but honestly,am I the only one who finds it odd, wrong, and even slightly disturbing that—not only does L’Oreal own Garnier Fructis in addition to their L’Oreal Paris hair care line—but they also own a massive portion of the whole beauty market? 25 brans is a huge number, and it spans a shocking number of low- to high-end brands, including, according to my research Maybelline and Urban Decay. So weird. So wrong.

But anyways, aside from that slightly disturbing fact,l I do really like this product line, and though I wasn’t too surprised to find that the brand was Garnier, I am happy that I get to continue using these products for free!

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Thanks for reading! If you have anything to say or ask about this line, Influenster, or L’Oreal, make sure to let me know in the comments!

B2S 2: Back to School Makeup–Fresh and Natural

Hello again. You may be confused by the title, and wondering why you can’t find B2S 1, if this post is #2, which is honestly fair enough. That post is up on my other blog—Thought-Constellations—and you can find it by clicking right here.

If I had the lighting in my house, I would have liked to have done this post as a video for you, since video tutorials are much more helpful. As it is, I guess these types of posts (I’m planning to do a couple more after this one) will be more of a look inspiration post, just to give you ideas of what sort of products you could use and what type of looks you could make.

The idea for today’s makeup look was meant to look simple and somewhat natural, while still pretty and more pulled-together than no makeup. Here’s what I used to achieve my look:

Garnier BB Creme in Light/Medium:

This is an optional step, especially in a natural look, but it does give extra coverage if you need or want that, especially when layered with a coloured—rather than a translucent—powder. For more coverage, you could used a light foundation; one I would suggest is Revlon’s Nearly Naked.

Clinique Acne Solutions Concealer:

If you need a concealer to cover zits and pimples, like I do at the moment, then I would suggest using one that fights your acne while it’s covering it. This is the one I use, and I quite like it. It doesn’t do as much as my regular zit gel for clearing up the issue, but it doesn’t make the problem worse like other concealers, and it covers well.

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Silky Beige:

Even if you don’t want to use a foundation or BB cream, you should use a powder that matches your skin in order to help even out your complexion and help mattify some shine. This is my favourite one.

Benefit Coralista Blush:

This is my favourite blush, and I think it gives a really natural glow, as well as some colour, to your face. I love the coral more than a pink, because it almost doubles as a highlighter, and with the pretty gold shimmer, it also helps to highlight the face. If you want to try this, but don’t have the money, ELF has one in their Studio line called “Candid Coral” which is identical and only $3.

Nyx Eyebrow Pencil in Taupe:

While not essential, filling in your eyebrows helps to pull the look together and ultimately makes you look a lot more polished. There are tons of alternatives to a pencil, if pencils and you don’t get along, such as brow powders, gels, waxes, etc. At the very least, I would suggest shaping your brows and cleaning up any stray hairs, or going to get them done professionally.

Essence I <3 Stage Eye Primer:

If you use the next product that I am as well, you don’t really need an eye primer, as the Maybelline Colour tattoos aren’t going anywhere, but if you use any other shadow, especially a powder shadow, then a base helps to cover up any imperfections on you eyelid and really pumps up the pigmentation of your shadows, as well as increasing their longevity.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze:

These are kind of a miracle product. I can’t believe I waited to try them. I only have this one, but it’s wonderful. It’s super easy to apply, very buildable, very easy to sheer out… very versatile, really. It’s great on it’s own or layered under powder shadows as a base. I’m in love and want more.

For this look, I started on the outside corners of my eyes to put the most pigmentation there, and then sheered it out towards the inner corners.

Covergirl EyeEnhancers Shadow in Champagne:

After applying the Colour Tattoo, I used this shadow just as a highlight around my tearduct on both the upper and lower lash line.

Urban Decay 24/7 Liner Pencil in Perversion:

I used a black liner just on my waterline. This is definitely optional, but I love how it helps to define my eyes. Another option would be to use a white or skintone coloured pencil, and just make sure to apply mascara to your bottom lashes. This would open up your eye more and help you look more awake.

Revlon Lash Potion Mascara in Blackest Black:

Finally, you need to finish the look with some mascara. I’m wearing about two coats of this one for this look. This mascara isn’t phenomenal, but it is a pretty good, basic mascara. If you don’t like a lot of volume or length, and just want something simple, I would recommend this one.

Maybelline Baby Lips in Pink Punch:

Although I’m not wearing it in the picture below, I’m including this because it seems wrong to call a look finished when you aven’t mentioned the lips. This would be a good choice for a natural look because it just gives a bright but sheer wash of pink to the lips, and it’s also very hydrating and contains SPF 20.

The finished look:

This look is great because it’s shimmery and pretty, but not overdone. Also, since the eye shadow is so long-lasting, this would be a great base to work off if you needed a look to go from day to night. Just add some liquid liner and a wing on top, another coat of mascara, and a bright or red lipstick. And maybe some bronzer to contour.

Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out my other Back to School posts!

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Other posts in this series:

B2S 1: Back to School Food and Snacks	B2S 2: Back to School Makeup—Fresh and Natural
B2S 3: Back to School Book Haul

Face of the Day: Valentine’s Day Makeup

I did a post about my Valentine’s Day over on my new blog—Thought Constellations—but I thought this was the best place to show off my makeup for that day. If you want to know more about what I did, ate, wore, and got, you can take a peek at the new blog. =)

I decided to go pretty and simple, so as not to draw too much attention away from my new dress.

As usual, I used a mix of my Garnier BB Cream and my Lancôme foundation as a base, which I set with my Rimmel Stay Matte powder. For blush, I used Benefit Coralista. On my eyes, I used my ELF Mineral eye primer, and used the bronze colour in the Hard Candy box powder in Truth or Dare as my base colour and a champagne shadow from Cover Girl as a highlight on my inner corner. Then I used my Wet’n’Wild H2O Proof liquid liner, my Urban Decay 24/7 pencil liner in Zero, and one coat each of Maybelline’s Cat Eyes mascara and Maybelline Turbo Volume Express. I finished with my NYX brow pencil and a soft, glittery, neutral Revlon ColorStay lipstick (which the colour name has rubbed off). Oh, and I set everything with my Urban Decay All Nighter spray, of course.

Anyway, here’s the finished look:

Thanks for reading! =)

October 2012 Favourites!

     Hello again, my lovely readers! It’s been November for like a week and a half now, and so I thought it was time to finally get my next favourites post up. Sorry about the delay, I had a bit of an everything-due-at-once situation this past week, and even now I should be reading and writing. But I can take a little while to finish this and get it up.

     Anyways, I’m back down to a rather short lists again this month, because, massive procrastinator that I am,  have yet to find a new job, and thus don’t really have a source of income. =(

That said, here are my favourite products last month:

1. Body Shop Coconut Body Butter:
   
   
        If you remember from last month, my hands were in melt-down mode and were super dry and peeling. This is one of the things that helped me fix them a lot. This is a really old tub and it’s still half full, so I really hope I use it up before it goes rancid, because cocoa butter smells terrible once it’s rancid. Anyways, I’ve really been loving this; it’s like my super dry hands helped me rediscover this product, and I’ve been using it on my hands, as a cuticle cream, and as a lip balm. This is a great all round moisturizer, and probably one of the Body Shop’s best scents!
   
2. Lancôme Color Ideal foundation + Garnier BB Cream:
   
   
        The BB Cream isn’t a new favourite. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but sometimes you want a little more coverage than a BB Cream can offer you. In order to get that, I’ve been mixing it about half-and-half with an old foundation that I had all but stopped using. Like the body butter, this is another rediscovered old product. I got it in high school, but I’m pretty sure it’s still good; it doesn’t smell bad and because of the pump dispenser, the product doesn’t get contaminated by your fingers.
        I used to have a bit of a problem with this foundation, which is why I stopped using it. It goes on too thick for me, and I could never make it look anything but cakey. It managed to make me look like I had dry patches which weren’t there without the foundation, and it creased awkwardly. However, mixed with the BB Cream, this becomes a great, light-medium coverage foundation!
        Also, because the BB Cream is a little yellower than my skin, and the foundation is a little too pink-based, they even each other out and provide a much more neutral colour, which I have been loving using recently! (This also makes the pricey Lancôme foundation spread a lot farther!)
   
3. Maybelline Super Stay 24 Color lipsticks:
   
   
   
        These are wonderful. I’m not much of a lipstick person, because I hate dealing with smudging and lip colour on coffee cups. I also get tired of the feeling of lipstick, which is why this stuff is great for me! You’ve probably all seen these, or something like them before. The lip colour goes on as a liquid, almost like a gloss, but super-pigmented, and then you let that dry. This part is a little uncomfortable. First, the colour gets tacky and then it starts to feel like its shrinking your lips. But once it’s dry to the touch you use the lip balm on the other end to add a bit of shine and to remoisturize your lips.
        I like a slightly more mattified look, so I either blot the gloss down again, or else I just let it wear off naturally, and the colour doesn’t get crunchy feeling again, so it feels super natural, while still giving great bright or dark lips! One tip I have if you want to try these, or any of the other long-wear lipsticks of this type, is to make sure your lips are pretty well moisturized before you apply the colour. This will help it go on much more evenly. Also, greasy food will remove this, so be careful what you’re eating, or how you eat it. When it comes off it gets a bit flakey, and touch-ups can be a little unforgiving. All that said, I love this product.
          (In case you’re wondering what colours these are, the dark red is 025 Keeping Up the Flame, and the other one is 020 Continuous Coral.)

And my Non-cosmetic favourites:

1. Game of Thrones:
        I started watching this about the beginning of the month. Although it took almost the full first episode to get me hooked (make sure to finish the first episode before considering giving up!), I am completely addicted now. I have watched up to the 8th episode of the second season (so no spoilers, please!), and I’m being slow to finish it off, because the third season doesn’t air until March, but I really want to know what happens, so once all my school work is finished, I’ll be sitting down with some tea to get that done!
        Anyways, I definitely suggest this show if you liked the Tudors, since it has a similar feel. Also if you are a Lord of the Rings fan, this is a great show, with a somewhat similar form. It’s a historical/Medieval era type show with sex, politics/clashing families, drama, magic, and great lines. So if you like British television, fantasy, historical fiction, Sean Bean, definitely give it a try, if you haven’t already, and let me know what you think!
2. Mars bars:
   
   
        I’ve always liked Mars bars, but I wouldn’t have said they were a favourite. But since I got that Mars box of mini chocolate bars for the Halloween party I went to, I’ve been in love! It’s probably my favourite thing in the box. I don’t know why, I usually go for stuff with nuts, but I’m loving the creamy caramelliness!
   
3. Candles:
   
   
        After watching everyone’s fall haul videos on YouTube, I was dying to get some Bath and Body Works candles, even though that it sooooo low on my priority list right now that it’s insane. Then I realised that I have a bunch of candles that have been sitting in my room for so long. Only one of them had even been lit before! Lame. Anyways, now I’ve been burning them all the time… which only makes me want some B&BW candles more, but at least now I have something to tide me over! The two pictured are both vanilla, but unfortunately I don’t know what brand they are or where they’re from.

     That’s all for now! What were your favourites last month? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for reading!

     (I should be doing a collective haul post soon. Since my last haul post, I have acquired a bunch of new stuff I want to show off, so I really need to get on that. Maybe by the middle or end of this next week that post will be up, so keep a look out!)

<3