Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Powder

The other day an old copy of Fashion magazine somehow ended up on my desk so I decided to flip through the pages even though I am usually not a fan of Canada's (supposed) number one fashion magazine. Forgetting the fact that I'm not a fan, I always feel like half the fun of magazines is looking at all the ads which are usually just as interesting as the articles and editorials. As I was flipping the pages one of the ads caught my attention and I actually stopped and wrote the name of the product on a postit and stuck it in my purse. The flip-stopping product was Chanel's (newish) Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Powder. I ended up googling it on my lunch break which led to the decision that I should take a trip to my closest Chanel counter to see it in person. Once I decide a product warrants a trip to the closest counter that usually means trouble. Off to the counter I went with a skip in my step (hello, it's Chanel after all) to  swatch the powder. Lets just say I was pretty much sold at first sight but a friendly sales associate approached me and said he wanted to show me how to use it so I happily took a seat in the makeup chair and let him do his thing. After applying the powder he decided I needed some blush and lip gloss and I felt like a whole new woman. 

 I bought it in the colour B10 which is a perfect match for my skin tone. When they say "healthy glow" the truly mean it. The powder is finely milled and very sheer so it does not provide any coverage but it leaves the skin with the most beautiful glow that is so difficult to describe. It's not shimmery or glittery in the slightest but it gives the skin a gorgeous sheen. It is best used with a dense kabuki brush and should be buffed into the skin in circular motions but I sometimes like to use the brush that came with the compact too. The bristles are surprisingly soft for a compact brush (but not for Chanel) and it makes applying on the go a breeze. What is your go to powder?

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Clinique Chubby Sticks "Whole Lotta Candy"

The moment Clinique released their Chubby Sticks (forever ago) I wanted to try them but for some odd reason I only just got around to seeing what they were all about. Sure, I had swatched them on one of my many leisurely strolls through Sephora but I had never made a purchase because there was always something higher up on my wish list that ended up winning the checkout battle. I also tend to go for more inexpensive lip products because they always seem to get lost in the bottom of my handbag and I'm not big on reapplying throughout the day (I'm more into lip balm). With that being said, I thought it was about time I tried the very trendy lip crayon, especially now that all brands from Bourjois to Rimmel are making their own versions. Starting with the original seems fitting, no?

I got three mini versions in the shades Two Ton Tomato, Voluptuous Violet and Pudgy Peony. I think my favourite of the bunch is Two Ton Tomato but all three are beautiful and wearable shades for someone with pale skin like me. They are extremely easy to apply and are quite low maintenance and I get a couple hours of wear time out of them. I think that these are great for those who don't love the work it can take to make a brighter lipstick look good and prefer a sheerer wash of colour although these are still quite pigmented so you won't be left disappointed like some tinted balms have a tendency to do. What are your favourite lip crayons?

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Insta-Life #13 Bala Cranberry Festival

 A rainy Saturday called for lounging around in front of a fire / homemade pizza for dinner / strawberry and passionfruit pavlova for dessert / Sunday morning brought the sun and a gorgeous Ontario view / With the rain holding off we headed out for a walk / Photographing the fall foliage / I had a penchant for lonely road shots / The reason we're here - The Bala Cranberry Festival / Taking the photography thing seriously / It's raining cranberries!

How did you spend your weekend? 

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The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter

Last winter my skin was incredibly dry so I decided to give cleansing balms a try (I didn't intend for that to rhyme). My first foray into the trend was the much talked about Emma Hardie Amazing Face Lift and Sculp Moringa Cleansing Balm which I loved. This fall has been unusually warm here in Toronto so my skin hasn't really started to react to the weather changes but I know that the cold winter months are looming ahead of us (tomorrow, in fact) so I decided I would give The Body Shops new cleansing balm (or butter) a go. 

The cleansing butter isn't as emollient as the Emma Hardie version in the tin but it melts quite quickly once it comes into contact with the skin and is very easy to spread across the face. I always remove my makeup first with some Bioderma on a cotton pad so I use the cleansing balm to get rid of what has been left over so I can't say how good it is at removing a full face of makeup. Normally I wouldn't cleanse after wiping a balm off but this felt a lot like lard and it didn't feel right to leave my face uncleansed  so I've been cleansing again after which is something I don't really like doing. It seems like a silly third step and I never cleanse after using the Emma Hardie balm. 

I've been enjoying the butter but I don't think it will replace Emma Hardie as my favourite but I do think it is a budget friendly alternative as long as you don't mind cleansing after you've used it. Three steps do make it a bit of an impractical cleanser and I most definitely do not use it on nights when I am tired and rushing to get into bed. What is your favourite cleansing balm?

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Laqa & Co. Nail Polish in Greedy Guts

I have so many nail polishes that I put myself on a polish ban nearly two yeas ago and a new polish hasn't made it's way into my stash since then unless it entered by way of a beauty box. Such is the case with this Laqa & Co. nail polish in the colour Greedy Guts. I posted about the September Wantable box a few weeks ago and this little guy was one of the samples in that box. I was actually really excited to try this out because even though my polish stash is ridiculously large I don't actually own very many traditional reds. 

The polish was just the right consistency to apply even coats to my nails. I find that many reds can be a bit streaky and end up leaving me with a rather uneven end result and it doesn't help that I generally lack the patience required to get a salon perfect nail. The no streak factor made this a winner in my book almost immediately but then I discovered that it only took two coats to get a perfectly opaque colour and I was really excited. I know this is bad but I usually go for three coats on most polishes (except for black) to get an opaque finish so Laqa & Co. has made it into my good books. 

I'm not sure if you can buy these in store or if they are only online but I would definitely be interested in  trying out some other colours from the range (except for the fact that I already own all the colours of the rainbow). Have any of you tried Laqa & Co. before?

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Insta-Life #12

For some reason I thought the McGriddle was only sold in the US and was shocked (and extremely excited) to see it on the menu at Union Station / The Hermes exhibit at the Design Exchange was amazing and watching an artisan hand stitch a Kelly bag was definitely my Friday night highlight / My morning walk to work on a beautiful but chilly Toronto morning / Brand new Lucky Brand booties bought during a lunch break shopping excursion

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Products I've Used Up #2

I keep a bag under my desk and every time I finish a product I toss it in there. The clutter in my room has gotten out of hand so it is time to toss the garbage I have been saving. Over the last few month's I have used up another Effaclar Duo from La Roche Posay. I have mentioned this numerous times so all I'll say is if you have problems with breakouts that are not too severe you should give this a try. It is a must have for me and I consistently repurchase it. I also went through a tube of my favourite body lotion, Aveeno's Daily Moisturizing Lotion, a mini bottle of Elizabeth Arden's Eye Makeup Remover which is kind of "meh" and a Dove Invisible Dry Deodorant. 

I also managed to finish a giant bottle of Aveeno's Skin Relief Body Wash which I had for nearly two years so you can imagine how happy I was to squeeze out the last drop. I also finished up the remains of La Roche Posay's Gentle Gel Cleanser which I really enjoyed, Simple's Gel Cleanser which was nice but nothing to write home about, and a mini MAC Cleanse Off Oil which I liked but I prefer balm cleansers over oils so I don't think I will be buying this one again. I could be persuaded to try one of the Shu Uemura cleansing oils though because everyone always raves about those. 

I always run through hair products, especially shampoo and conditioner like they are going out of style because I do not take a less is more approach when it comes to conditioning my hair so I have a hard time spending money on more expensive hair products. I used up the NUME Pure Remedy Repair Shampoo and Conditioner which were definitely not worth a repurchase in my opinion as well as a bottle of Herbal Essences Conditioner which brought me back to elementary school. (Isn't it funny how scents can take you back?) I also managed to use up (very quickly) a tube of L'Oreal's Arginine Resist Mask which was nothing special. I had high hopes for it but I didn't really notice a difference and I won't be purchasing it again. Finally I also finished up a mini bottle of Nexxus Humectress Conditioner which I had in my linen closet for ages. I had received it in a beauty box and had never gotten around to using it. Turns out I really liked it and so once it was finished I headed out to Shoppers to buy a bottle and couldn't find it. Isn't that how it always happens? You find a product you love and then it's no longer available.

WATCH THE VIDEO!

              

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September Wantable Box

A few weeks ago I received an email from the folks at Wantable asking if I would be interested in reviewing their service. I said yes because I love subscription services and I didn't know much about the company. I was given a code to purchase my box* and had to make an account as I would if I was purchasing the box myself. This meant that I also got to fill out the customization survey that all new members fill out. I have filled out a lot of these surveys in the past and was thoroughly impressed with the Wantable survey. It was by far the most in depth survey I have seen from a service like this.  It asked all kinds of questions from the types of products I like to specific colours I prefer. It also went so far as to ask me wether I preferred loose or pressed powders. I was kind of curious to see how much this survey impacted my box and lets just say I was very impressed. 

My box arrived less than a week after I placed the order and I eagerly ripped it open to see what was inside. I received a full size blush from a natural brand called Cailyn. It is a mineral pressed blush (they listened when I said I didn't like loose powder blushes) in a very pretty peachy pink (it is in fact called Peach Pink) colour that blends beautifully into the skin. I also received a 29 Cosmetics Reserves Grape Seed Age Protecting Moisturizing Lipstick with SPF 20 in the colour Expressive Rose. Once again they listened when I said that I preferred more moisturizing lipstick formulas and this one is super creamy but still very pigmented. I was excited to see a Japonesque Angled foundation brush in the box as I have heard a lot about the brand but never seen it here in Canada. I haven't used it yet but the bristles are soft and I have high hopes for it. The final product in my box was a beautiful red nail polish in the colour Greedy Guts from Laqa&Co. I have already tested this out and it was very easy to apply and only needed two coats for an opaque colour. 

Overall I was really happy with my box. The big question is would I spend $36 of my hard earned dollars to get this box every month? The answer to that is probably not. The only brand that I had heard of was Japonesque and while all the products were full size making it excellent value for money (the retail value of my box was $91) I think I would prefer spending that money on things I actually know I want. With that being said, if you have money in your budget for the expense and enjoy being surprised each month then this service may just be for you!

*PR Sample (Please see disclaimer page for more info)

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Insta-Life #11

The best $2 I have ever spent / Photo taking as become a lot more fun with this birthday gift / Saturday apple picking with friends / Early morning work outfit shot

What have you been up to lately?

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What I Wore

I always tend to go for a less is more (natural looking) approach when it comes to my makeup and I never like to look like I'm wearing a lot of products. For some strange reason though it takes a lot of products to achieve my so called natural look. On this Saturday morning I started off by concealing my under-eye area with Bobbi Brown's Corrector in porcelain bisque and Rimmel London's Wake Me Up Concealer in very light (a current favourite). I always double up due to my inherited dark circles. After I was done concealing my dark circles I moved on to concealing imperfections on my face (and on this particular day that was only on and around my nose) with Maybelline's Super Stay 24 Hour Concealer in Cream. I followed that up with Sleek's Luminous Pressed Powder to set everything and give me a little glow. 

Next up I filled in my brows with the Hourglass Arch Brow sculpting pencil which I love (it's worth every penny!) and patted on a bit of Urban Decay's Primer Potion. Once my eyelids were prepped I whipped out my new Nars Fairy's Kiss palette and used Kalahari and Tokyo layered on top of each other all over the lid for a natural purplish hue and blended that out with a fluffy brush to get rid of any harsh lines. My eyes are quite hooded so I like to keep the eyeshadow simple because you can't really see it anyway. I then used Lise Watier's Eye Shine pencil in smokey brown on the lash line to make my lashes look a bit thicker on the outer corner. I also lined my lower waterline with Rimmel's Scandal Eyes pencil in nude to open up my eyes and make myself look a bit more awake. Finally I used my Shu Uemura lash curlers and popped on Clinique's Lash Power Mascara to define my lashes.

My favourite part of doing my makeup is always blush and highlighter and on this day I used the Annabelle Mai-Marie Multi-Colour Blush on the apples of my cheeks and then used the MAC Archie's Girl highlighter on the tops of my cheek bones. The final step is adding some lip colour and I went for Maybelline's Baby Lips in Cherry Me for a natural but visible hint of colour.

As you can see I wasn't kidding when I said it took a lot of products to achieve a natural look. How many products do you use on an average day?

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