November Favourites 2014

 

Time for November favourites! I have quite a few products to go over so let's get started!

Tarte Bon Voyage Palette // One of the holiday sets I bought this year was the Bon Voyage set from Tarte. Included in this set was an eye shadow palette with 20 gorgeous purpley and neutral shadows and I've been using it so much this past month! Check out my review and swatches of the set here!

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in Fair // I ran out of my Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer a little while ago and instead of repurchasing it I decided to try the Fit Me concealer and it's been great! It does a fantastic job covering under eye circles as well as any redness or blemishes I may need extra coverage on. It's lightweight and doesn't crease either!

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper // This year I've been buying a different liquid liner every time I run out of another. Liquid liner is part of my daily makeup routine and I'm on the hunt for the perfect one! I've liked all the ones I've tried from Sephora so far but this has to be close to the top of the list for me. Of all the liquid liner pens I've tried this is the first one with a brush tip rather than a felt tip and it is such a precise tip and application is really great. And it's super black and long wearing!

Urban Decay DeSlick Setting Spray // This is a product I've been meaning to put in my favourites for months now! I bought it back in July and it's been part of my daily routine since. I use this to set my base makeup every morning and it helps it last all day and helps my skin not get oily throughout the day. I love it!

MAC Salon Rouge Lipstick // This lipstick is a matte slightly deepened/berry-toned red lipstick that is absolutely perfect for this time of the year. It's part of MAC's holiday collection and it's absolutely beautiful. It's really long wearing as well!

Deborah Lipmann Hannah Nail Polish // This nail polish came in a set of 4 'Girls' nail polishes I found at Winners on clearance for $12. I've never watched Girls (not really interested to) but I couldn't pass up that deal for 4 full-sized Deborah Lipmann polishes! One of the ones from the set I tried in November was Hannah, a khaki hunter green with a cream finish. I love this polish colour for fall/winter!

Julep Bare Face Cleansing Oil & Konjac Sponge // These two products came in my October Julep Box and I ended up really enjoying using them together! Both products are very new to me (I've never used a cleansing oil or konjac sponge) but they were great to use to remove my makeup at the end of the day. I use the konjac sponge damp and put a few pumps of the cleansing oil onto it and work the oil into my skin with the sponge and it takes off all my makeup! On most nights this month I used this and I found my skin to be super soft from the oil after cleansing as well!

Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Soft Brown // This is one of the products I picked up during the Sephora VIB sale this month and I've used it daily since I got it. It's such a great brow product. It's easy to use and my brows last all day long. I really want to try the auburn shade as well from this range but I'm happy with how Soft Brown works for me too!

Bath & Body Works Pumpkin Gingerbread Candle // Hello, new favourite candle! Previous to this scent, Pumpkin Cupcake was my favourite candle scent, but this new Pumpkin Gingerbread fragrance has taken over the #1 spot for me! It's sweet and spicy at the same time and it just smells incredible. Next time you're at Bath & Body Works give it a sniff!

Mossimo Plaid Scarf from Target // My mom actually bought this scarf for me back in October for my birthday and I absolutely love it. It's oversized (and not going to lie I've used it as a blanket while on long train/bus rides) and it's so soft and keeps me nice and cozy in this cold weather we've been having!

Well, there's another monthly favourites done! And now tomorrow is December, I can't wait! Let me know what your favourites from November were below!

IMATS Toronto Haul!

Yesterday I attended my very first IMATS in Toronto! I went with one of my best friends, Courtney (her blog is Cupcakes & Cateyes), and we had such a great day. I've been wanting to go to IMATS since I very first heard about it on YouTube years and years ago but I've never been able to attend (for various reasons) until this year. I'm so glad I got to go and I had an amazing time! We got there shortly after 9 and stayed until around 4. We got to meet Sam and Nic of Pixiwoo at their Real Techniques meetup and I also met Stacey Brennan who's a beauty YouTuber I've been watching for about 6 years now (see photos of both on my Instagram)!

The rest of this post is quite picture-heavy so I've put it under a cut, but click on to see and read about everything I bought!

Lush Night Before Christmas Set

I went into Lush yesterday wanting to try some of their Christmas bath products. I've tried a few things from Lush but I've never tried their bath bombs, bubble bars, or bath melts! To be honest I haven't taken a proper bath in well over 10 years - I prefer showers. But after hearing so many bloggers and vloggers rave about Lush's bath products I finally decided to pick up a few. After being shown some demonstrations of products in the shop by an employee I settled on getting the Night Before Christmas set! This set includes the Christmas Eve bubble bar, the Father Christmas bath bomb, and the infamous Twilight bath bomb. I believe of the three, Twilight is the only one that's available year round. They all smell amazing and I can't wait to try them out!

What are some of your favourite Lush products? I'm always wanting to try more!

Tarte Bon Voyage Collector's Set

 

Today I've got another holiday palette to share with you all! This is the Tarte Bon Voyage Collector's Set for holiday 2014. One day when I was in Sephora I had swatched a few shades of this palette and for the next couple of weeks I couldn't get it off my mind! I eventually caved and went to buy it, and I also had a 10% off coupon that I got when I was upgraded to VIB, as well as a $50 mall gift card, so this palette only cost me around $23 of my own money for this! This set retails for $71 CAD.

This set includes an eyeshadow palette with 20 Amazonian clay eye shadows, a full size LipSurgence Lip Tint in Romantic, a full size LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Visionary, a deluxe sample of the Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara, a deluxe cheek stain in Muse, a deluxe Maracuja Oil, a deluxe Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay finishing powder, and a collector's travel bag! For all that you get in this set it really is an amazing value.

In this palette you get 20 beautiful neutral shadows. I love the colours in this palette as they range from mauve purpley tones, to warmer neutrals, to cool silvers and grays. You get 12 matte shadows and 8 shimmers, which as a matte shadow lover, I adore!

(Left to Right: Palace of Versaille, Moulin Rouge, I Think I Cannes, My Own Cotes du Rhone, Boudoir Noir, Fall in Louvre, Provence Upon a Time, Eiffel For You, Too Haute to Handle, Bastille in the Night) (Left to Right: Chantilly Lace, Merci You Later, No Champagne No Gain, Take on Bordeaux, French Riviera, C’est la Vie, Marseille the Word, Play Nice, On a Good Notre Dame, Le Cordon Bleu)

(Left to Right: LipSurgence Lip Tint in Romantic, LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Visionary, Romantic with Visionary on top)

Here are a few looks I've created with the palette! It really is so versatile and it's been a lot of fun to play with so far!

I haven't had the chance to play with the other products in the kit yet but if I end up loving any of them you can expect to see them in my monthly favourites! I thought I'd get this post up while the VIB sale was still on so you can get 20% off this set while you can!

HAUL: Sephora VIB Sale + Bath and Body Works!

This morning I headed to the mall for the Sephora VIB sale! I was upgraded to VIB-status only about a month ago so I'm so excited I was able to shop the sale this year! I've had a few items on my makeup wishlist that I've really wanted to try so I finally let myself buy them. My haul isn't too big but I also got a few items for Christmas gifts (which I will not be showing here in case any of my friends see!), and I'm really happy with the few things I did get. I also went to Bath & Body Works since they were doing 3 for $33.50 3-wick candles and I had a 20% off coupon and a gift card!

The first item I picked up from the VIB sale is the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper. I wear liquid liner on a daily basis and even though I don't need a new one right now I thought I'd buy this while I could get it on sale so that way next time I run out of liquid liner I can use this! I currently use the Kat Von D Ink Liner which is her felt-tip liquid liner pen (and I love it), but I'm constantly hearing people rave about this one, her brush-tip liner pen that I thought I'd give it a go!

The next product I got is actually my first NARS makeup product! As a fan of both a matte lip and a vampy lip, I had to get the infamous NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Train Bleu! It's a super deep plum-burgundy that I can not wait to wear.

Lastly, it seems like everyone and their mothers uses and loves Anastasia Beverly Hills brow products, so I finally bought something from their range! I got the Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Soft Brown. I wanted to try the Auburn shade but they were sold out, but when I swatched this it looked like it should work for me! I currently use the ELF Eyebrow Kit on my brows and though it works okay, sometimes I notice it smudging or fading by the end of the day. From what I've heard about the Dipbrow Pomade it's exactly what I'm looking for since it's smudgeproof, waterproof, and supposedly lasts all day! I can't wait to do my brows tomorrow and try it out!

I also picked up a Sephora brand sharpener because I left mine at my friend's house recently, and this pink one was too cute to pass up!

From Bath & Body Works I got three holiday candles. I've been good and haven't bought any candles since July, so I let myself get these with the gift card I had! All 3 only ended up costing me around $26 with my 20% off coupon - what a steal! I got the scents Pumpkin Gingerbread, 'Tis the Season, and Mint Mocha Bark. I can't wait to burn them this winter!

What's on your VIB sale wishlist? Or what did you get?

Any other holiday scents from Bath & Body Works I should check out?

I'd love to know in the comments below!

The Best Matte Lipsticks at the Drugstore!

 

Ever since I first heard about these lipsticks a few weeks ago I've been searching my local drugstores high and low for them. I finally came across a display at WalMart (which was mostly sold out), but I managed to pick up two shades! The lipsticks I'm talking about of course are the new Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte lipsticks! 

The two shades I got were Mesmerizing Magenta (swatched left) and Lust for Blush (swatched right). Both shades swatched really smoothly and applied opaque. They also apply really nicely to the lips and don't pull or tug at all which some matte lipsticks are prone to doing. And even though while wearing them they feel really creamy on the lips, they still appear to be completely matte! Since they are a creamier formula they don't wear as long on the lips as some other drier matte formulas, but it's well worth it for the comfort of these, and they're super easy to touch up or reapply as needed. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more shades of these!

Have you tried these lipsticks? What shades should I buy next?

October Favourites 2014

 

Can you all believe it's November already? Christmas is just around the corner now, it's crazy! October was probably the best month of 2014 for me though. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen in a while, I went to some really cool shows and events, and it was my 21st birthday on the 19th! Here are some of the items I loved throughout the month!

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle / I've had this on my makeup wishlist for literally years now and I finally got it this year for my birthday! I was planning on buying it soon anyways but I had mentioned to my mom how much I wanted it and she went out and got it for me! I've used it every single day since and it's just as beautiful as I've always dreamed of it being.

Milani Color Statement Lip Liner in All Natural / I'm very slowly becoming a lip liner person, and this one is something I've used constantly this month! Whenever I've done a nude lip I've used this as a liner and to fill in my lips beforehand and it's such a beautiful brown-pink nude! It also isn't too drying as some other lip liners I've tried are. I really want to try some other lip liners from this line!

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Copenhagen / This has become my go-to deep lip colour this month. It's a beautiful deep berry-burgundy-red. I love the formula of the NYX SMLC's as well since they're so long lasting and super matte!

Tarte Pin-Up Girl Blush Palette / I wrote a review on this palette a couple of weeks ago and I've been using it almost daily since I've gotten it. It's a gorgeous palette with 5 beautiful blushes. How could I go wrong?

MAC Nail Lacquer in Double Trouble / I picked this nail polish up when I was in Ohio this summer and I finally got around to using it! It's a gorgeous navy creme that's perfect for fall!

Equate Nail Polish Remover Dip / I've wanted to try something like this for a while, so when I saw this remover dip at Wal Mart for just over $2.00 I had to pick it up! It's basically a tub filled with a sponge soaked in nail polish remover and you just dip your polished fingers into the sponge to remove your nail polish! So quick and easy, I'm really glad I got this!

Buffer Festival / Lastly, my favourite thing of all this month was Buffer Festival. Buffer Festival is a YouTube film festival that took place in Toronto over the weekend of the 17th-19th (which was also my birthday weekend). I went to Buffer last year and really enjoyed it, and this year I was hired as the graphic designer for the festival so I got to see a bunch of things I designed all around Toronto and it was really, really cool. I made a little post about it on my design/photography blog here if you want to see some of the work I did! It was a really incredible weekend though.

What were some of your favourite things in October?