Nail Design of the Week- October 6th

This week's nail design was inspired by Beyoncé's recent instagram post-- so do like Queen Bey says and paint your pinkys pink in honor of Breast Cancer awareness month, ladies! 

Favourite Eye Shadow Palettes

Hello fellow lovers of makeup. This week's post is dedicated to my three favourite eye shadow palettes: smoked by Urban Decay, Naked by Urban Decay, and Temperature Rising by M.A.C. I would most commonly use the Naked and Temperature Rising palettes for everyday eye shadow, as they have a great variety of neutral tones that aren't too overwhelming for work.








The Naked palette is all over YouTube beauty channels, and rightfully so; I think this palette is the most diverse I've seen as it features shadows that are completely basic such as Naked and Buck, but also feature sparkly, dark colours that are perfect for night looks (such as Creep and Gunmetal).  My favourite eye shadow look lately has featured these two palettes: I cover my eye lid in Half Baked from the Naked palette, and then use the dark purple shade from the M.A.C palette to line my bottom waterline and undereye.

The smoked palette is my most used for dark, going-out looks. These eye shadows are unbelieveably pigmented and are so creamy to apply. They aren't chalky at all and each colour is so beautiful. As soon as I bought this palette I was absolutely in love with it. This palette is great for updating the traditonal smokey eye with Rockstar, Evidence or Loaded.

Nail Design of the Week- August 22 (left hand)

Nail Design of the Week- August 22

Featuring: Essie 'waltz', OPI 'Red Dazzle', Sephora by OPI 'What's a Tire Jack?', and Spider-Man nail decals ordered from RLR Creations Nail Art on Etsy

Rimmel London Lipsticks

I am usually uneasy about drug-store make-up products, but this summer I've discovered an excellent line of lipsticks at Shoppers. The Kate Moss lipsticks by Rimmel London are incredibly cheap compared to higher-end make-up brands; but are extremely long-lasting and very easy to apply. I hate when lipsticks have a matte finish or drag across the lips when applying them.  The Kate lipsticks are (in my opinion) comparable to the MAC Creme Sheen lipsticks.  These are my favourite lipsticks at MAC but I am always skeptical of buying high-end bright lipsticks or colours that won't always be in season. Another perk of these Rimmel lipsticks is that they smell incredible, for example the red (01) smells like cherries and the matte peachy orange (109) smells like watermelon. I would asbolutely recommend these lipsticks and plan to get a couple more to add to my own collection.

Favourite Summer Nail Polishes

I paint my nails at least once a week if not more. I have always found painting my nails was the perfect excuse to sit down and watch TV without doing anything else because I had to sit and wait for my nails to dry--of course! Summer is the absolute best time to play around with bright nail polishes and funky patterns. Lately I've been rocking two colours on my nails (5-year-old style), which I personally love because I have the hardest time choosing what ONE colour I want to put on my nails.

I've also really been diggin' Essie nail polishes even more lately, and they have a summer line I'm dying to try. I find that this brand's polish has the perfect consistency; a mixture of liquidy and yet still thick enough that it is perfectly pigmented on your nails after just two coats. The only colour that I've had more trouble with is the light pink "Fiji" colour which can come out streaky unless applied with a very careful hand, and three coats of polish.

Otherwise recently when I made a trip down to the US I found some cheaper nail polish brands at Wal-Mart that have also been great (especially when they only cost $2). While these tend to chip faster than higher end nail polishes (such as Butter London and OPI) I'm not bother becaused I love painting my nails so much. Most weeks' I'm happy once my polish starts chipping because it gives me an excuse to paint my nails again.

Anyways, below are some of the polishes I find myself reaching for again and again this summer season, hope you enjoy!

From left to right: 'tart deco', 'lapiz of luxury', 'mod square', 'fifth avenue', 'play date', 'coat azure' 

From left to right: Salon Perfect 'Perky Pink', butter London 'Slapper', love & beauty 'Cucumber Melon', ZOYA 'Julie'

P.S. I think one of the best jobs in the world must be creating names for nail polishes... I absolutely love how clever all Essie names are, and the British flair of butter is what helps me choose from their awesome selection of colours

xxCarli

Beauty Blender Review

I've recently made the decision to purchase a beautyblender.  After seeing so many rave reviews on YouTube and other blogs, I decided to see what all the fuss was about.  The ice-cream cone shaped sponge was much smaller than I was expecting, but quickly learnt (with assistance from the shop assistant) that this magical applicator grows when held under water and dried with a towel.  I find this the perfect applicator for Spring and Summer make-up, as it makes any foundation look dewy and not at all heavy.  No one wants a cakey face in the hotter months of the year, and the moist application of the beauty blender evenly spreads your product of choice without laying it on too thick.

I love the two different ends of the sponge, as I use the wider side to apply foundation all over my face and then the smaller side to apply my under eye concealer.  I've tried the beautyblender with two different foundations and one BB cream and I can honestly say that it has worked wonders on all three of these products (all from different brands).  After only having this applicator for a month I can say that it has quickly become my favourite way to apply foundation and have used it every day since its original purchase.

I bought my beautyblender at a small (and wonderful) beauty boutique in Montreal, QB, Canada but I know that these treasures can also be found in Sephora.  

Hello fellow bloggers and lovers of makeup, 

I am writing this introductory post as a bit of an explanation about my intentions for this blog. Over the past 2-3 years I've watched numerous YouTube beauty tutorials and read countless beauty blogs. I've finally decided to start my own, and write an informal blog about one of my greatest passions: makeup. I'll also include restaurant reviews and perhaps random outfit of the day posts, but mostly this blog will focus on makeup products and how to apply them. I am in no way suggesting that I am a guru and am not technically trained in makeup, but I truly love following trends and applying makeup. I will try and post twice every week, maybe more or less depending on my schedule.  My first post will be a review of the Beauty Blender that I recently purchased, and after that I'm thinking of writing about my current foundation routine.