VLOG || Vancouver IMATS 2016 + NYX Cosmetics After Dark event

Mini IMATS haul included!

Hi guys, here's a short vlog of my day with Brit at Vancouver IMATS as well as the NYX event held at a bar downtown. Thought it would be fun to bring you along on this eventful day, and also show you what I bought at IMATS.

As I said in the video, I'll go over what they gave us at the event in another video, so look forward to my upcoming fashion & NYX haul video for that!!

Click here to watch in HD, or watch below:

Thanks for watching!

REVIEW || Batiste Dry Shampoo + 5 Dry Shampoo Tips

I'm not sure if I've talked about Batiste dry shampoo on my blog before or not, but I have used it a few times. I'm sure its a brand that many people are already familiar with, and it is particularly popular at least in the blogging and YouTube beauty communities, it seems. And with good reason!

This bottle of Batiste was sent to me to review, but I have also purchased other scents before myself, and my review is completely honest and my own!

Also, at the bottom of the post, I've listed 5 of my dry shampoo tips for newbies, or anyone who might not be a big dry shampoo fan. I know I've had a hard time finding the right dry shampoo and figuring out how to use it properly, so hopefully I can help someone else out so you don't have to do the same trial and error thing I did!

While I don't have a whole hell of a lot to say about this dry shampoo, I do think it is the best one I have ever used! Compared to various other dry shampoos, I find that Batiste smells amazing (and comes in a few different scents!), leaves the least residue in my hair (it actually feels really weightless, not grainy or heavy), and works the fastest with the least amount of product, so you actually get more uses out of every bottle!

I've also never had a bottle of Batiste run out of aerosol before it also ran out of product, possibly because of it's super fine texture? So in my experience, I've wasted far less Batiste than any other dry shampoo, which I always seem to have to throw out before I can use it up!

The two scents I've tried out are this one, the original, which smells very fresh and clean, and maybe a little bit lemony? A bit like dish soap or dryer sheets... but I mean that in the best way possible, because I really love the scent and will likely buy myself a bottle when this one is empty!

I've also tried the tropical scent, which is also nice, but very summery. It's an odd one to use in the colder months, because it smells like coconutty sunscreen, which I know tons of people would love (and it is nice), but definitely wasn't a favourite of mine. I really want to try out the leopard print bottle, which I think people have described as having a chocolate-y scent!

Finally, as promised in the title, I wanted to give you a few pointers if you are new to dry shampoo, or just can't figure out how to make it work. So here are some of the things I've had to learn through trial and error so maybe you won't have to!:

1. Shake the bottle constantly! The more you shake it, the less likely you are to run out of the aerosol you need to get that product out of the can! I like to shake really well before i start, and then give a couple quick shakes between each spritz.
2. Dry shampoo is not a miracle product. It helps, but isn't as good as a fresh wash. It's disappointing to find out that there is no dry shampoo that will make your hair look truly fresh-washed, but it's best to accept this, and learn to work with what dry shampoo can accomplish: making hair feel less oily and getting rid of that not-clean hair smell.
3. The earlier you use it, the better it will work. If you know you won't be washing your hair tomorrow and you want to prolong the look of your hair with dry shampoo, I'd put a bit of the product in maybe 12 or so hours after you wash, or sooner if you have really oily hair! So if you wash in the morning, I'd pop in a bit before you go to bed to start soaking up some of those oils before they take over. Then you can add a bit more in the morning to help refreshen, and you won't feel like you're fighting an uphill battle.
4. Don't just spray it on the top of your hair. Maybe this is obvious to you, or maybe it isn't... but when applying dry shampoo, you need to spray it at your roots in small amount all over your head. I like to lift random areas and spray around the roots, let it sit for a few moments, and then toss my hair around to bring back my hair's volume and help make sure there are no clumps of product to be visible or to irritate your scalp.
5. You can also use dry shampoo on clean hair for volume or texture. I don't really do this myself, as my hair is pretty textured and cooperative, but if you have very fine or slippery ahir, adding a little dry shampoo to clean hair can help your hair hold a style, if you don't want to wear it down and natural!

Those are all the tips I can think of right now, but leave any more you might have down in the comments, as well as your favourite dry shampoo! Or your favourite Batiste scent!

Thanks for reading!

REVIEW || Revlon Ultimate All-in-One Waterproof Mascara

Hey guys, today's video is just a quick one to tell you my thoughts on the new(ish) Revlon Ultimate All-In-One waterproof mascara.

Let me know if you had a similar experience, and also what your favourite waterproof mascara is, because I'm going to be in the market for one soon!!

Click here to watch in HD, or watch below:

Thanks for watching!

GRWM || Birthday Party Makeup -- David's Birthday (and Canada Day) 2016

Hey guys! In today's video I'm sharing with you the makeup I did for David's birthday party just over a week ago, which is also coincidentally Canada Day, so I've added red lips for some subtle Canadian pride =P I really love how this look turned out, so I hope you guys like it too! I used a ton of drugstore products in this one, as well, so it's really affordable compared to some of my more high-end focussed looks!

Let me know if you like the voiceover format more than just watching me do my makeup at high speed, or having me talking while I do my makeup. It's the most work to put together, since it's almost like I'm recording and editing twice for one video, but if you like it most, I'm totally willing to do more like this!

Click here to watch in HD, or watch below:

Thanks for watching!

REVIEW || Arm & Hammer Truly Radiant Clean & Fresh Toothpaste

You may be looking at this post asking yourself "Why would this mainly beauty blogger be reviewing some random toothpaste?" And that's a good question. To be honest, I don't really remember signing up for this campaign, but I don't want to make anyone mad by backing out... so here's my review.

As you can imagine, this was sent to me for review, but as always, that does not bias my opinions of the product in any way, and this review is completely honest.

Maybe I've used a lot of different toothpastes over the years, but all the claims always sound pretty much the same to me. This Arm & Hammer toothpaste promises deep cleaning and lasting freshness and claims to contain "4 Cleaning & Whitening Agents, 3 Breath Freshening Agents, [and] 1 Unique Enamel Strengthening Agent." But it doesn't label itself as a whitening toothpaste, or a toothpaste for sensitive teeth, so maybe it doesn't expect to be especially good at either of those things? Obviously, the biggest claim, and the way this toothpaste sells itself the most is with the "Clean & Fresh" title... am who doesn't want to have a clean mouth and fresh breath?

Overall, while I didn't notice any shocking whitening or strengthening of my own teeth (thankfully, I don't have very sensitive teeth!), this toothpaste did do pretty much everything I want a toothpaste to do. I hate gel toothpastes, and this one is a white paste, which is my favourite, so one point there. It also smells and tastes great, definitely a fresh, minty flavour, but not too overpowering, and it doesn't taste particularly chemically either, which is another perk.

The only thing that really stands out about this toothpaste to me is the texture. It is a pretty standard white paste format, like lots of other toothpastes (including my usual Colgate toothpaste), but it does seem to have a very slight grainy-ness to it. Not in the same way as Crest toothpaste (which I hate with a fiery passion, but let's not go there), which feels like it's full of sugar crystals. I think what I'm feeling is the soft powdery baking soda, which is obviously an ingredient in an Arm & Hammer toothpaste! But these particles don't feel bad or scratchy, instead they feel like they're delicately super cleaning my mouth and teeth... like a gentle tooth exfoliator! I actually quite like it.

Overall, I do still think writing a whole review of this toothpaste was a bit odd, but I also know that after now testing out this toothpaste, I do quite like it! Although I had never reached for or tried out an Arm & Hammer toothpaste before, after trying this, I do think I would purchase this product again on my own. It does a good job, doesn't make claims it can't live up to, and tastes good!

Have you tried this toothpaste? What's your favourite? Let me know in the comments down below!

Thanks for reading!