Glam

GLAM

Aug '16

The most beautiful 'bag' I've ever owned.

I feel awful calling this gorgeous piece a bag - but that's basically what it is to us Canadians.  This was a gift from my hubby and I just adore it in every sense - partly cause I helped pick it out.  Anyway - it goes in the glam section cause I feel like a million bucks every time I put on this very practical and very gorgeous bag.  Side note: I actually received a hand written thank you card in the mail after we made the purchase!  Talk about service...

To give you and idea about size.

I wouldn't pair the bag with this outfit but it's crazy how it 'works' - it honestly goes with everything!

April '16

Since I've been sporting some icy blonde hues lately, I thought I would give this EVO Fabuloso Platinum Blonde Colour intensifier a try.  I usually use the Beige blonde (and LOVE it) so I knew purchasing this one wasn't going to be too much of a risk.  It's about $37 dollars per bottle but totally worth it.  I was so happy to see my icy hues return after noticing that they were beginning to fade two weeks after getting my hair done at the salon.  So for me - this is a super solution.

They also included a detangling comb and the 'fingers' on it are so nice and big that I'm going to use it every time I get out of the shower!  Hope all of you beautiful blondes out there will enjoy EVO as much as I have!

Mar '16

My new 'MUST' face cream and oil.  

I was getting really upset with the latest version of Lancome.  I found it really heavy and thick almost to the point where I couldnt rub it into my face without giving myself a full massage and they changed the scent which had me a little miffed as well.  So, I decided to go ahead and try out a new (very highly recommended) brand called Caudalie from Paris France.  

Upon the first use of the L'Elixir which is the oil that you smooth onto your face before you put on the cream, I fell in love.  I also started noticing the skin on my face was super soft and really smooth so I decided to give the Premier Cru Creme at try.  Within a week of trying the duo, I am totally hooked.  You can buy the product online at www.geebeauty.ca  .  If you're looking for help to rejuvenate dry drab skin, this is seriously going to be your key.  What I also love about Gee Beauty is that they send two, sometimes three other beauty samples in your shipment to try.  It's not always stuff that you can buy at say Sephora, so it feels exclusive and special even though the products are probably available to all European women at their local drugstore.  

NO PARABENES!  This is huge to me and really important in all of my makeup products.  You pay more but I am happy to do so.

Jan '16

Nov '15

 Glamorous?  Hmmmm, maybe not but I was sure excited and felt excited when I opened the Honest box straight from Jessica Alba herself.  Well, that's exaggerating but you get the drift.  

I feel good about using these products.  My sister-in-law turned me onto the shampoo and conditioner when we were travelling in the states and after I used them, I too became a fan.  I don't know a ton about why a 'paraben' is chemically incompatible with our bodies cells but I know that these Honest products are without them.  They are without many threatening cosmetic preservatives and I know if I use them on my kids, they'll be free from extra unnecessary toxins too - and that's good enough for me ;)

May '15

A gift to me from my Mom on Mother's day!  

Beautiful packaging too.  To me, it smells like both light citrus and spring florals mixed together - crisp and polished but relaxed.  I LOVE it!  It's going to be my spring summer scent this year.  THANKS MOM! XO

Mar 2015

The name was what caught my eye in Sephora.  I had to have it just because of that.

Turns out Kate Sommerville, the L.A based skincare director and creator of a medi-skin clinic is one of the most trusted names in the field.  Now, I too know why.  This is hands down my new favourite skincare product.  I used to use those Neutrogena face wipes to take my makeup off but no more after trying this stuff!  I'll be purchasing more of this brand in the future since I was so totally impressed how powerful this 'gentle' cleanser was on my very sensitive skin.  LOVE IT, and talk about gorgeous packaging!  Win win.

TANGLE TEEZER

The Original Tangle Teaser

Who knew a hairbrush would fall under the 'GLAM' category?  I sure wouldn't have guessed it until I gave it a try.  A friend had mentioned how much she loved the brush cause it immediately detangled her thick long hair with minimal damage so I thought I would give it a go.  Now, I know that this brush absolutely deserves to be in the 'GLAM' section.  I can't tell you how quickly it detangles my hair while it's both wet and dry.  It's honestly the first brush that I don't feel like I'm fighting against.  If you're interested in picking one up, you can get them at Sally's beauty but be careful that you snag the the original one.  There are lot's a fake wanna-be's out there that are a bit too prickly and just not the same in size and shape but at $20 bucks a pop it's totally worth it.  And hello?  That vibrant pink colour?  We like...

Happy brushing!

GLAM

Feb 2015

Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation in 'Dawn'

I kept reading about this foundation online and thought it was worth a shot.  I'm needing serious coverage these days and at $44 bucks a pop I'm hoping this will be a new favourite.  Will let you know once I've given it a try. 

Lipstick: Hue

Eyeshadow: Girlie

Lipliner: Subculture

 I'm so obsessed with MAC.  I keep coming back to it time and time again.  I love going to my former student who helped me pick out these awesome colours AND watched and played with Scarlet as I sampled them.  It was the best.  All the MAC girls were so amazing with Scarly - I think next time I'll just drop her off there and go shopping for a few hours with Will sleeping in the stroller HAHA!

GLAM

Jan 2015

 Since we still haven't made a final decision about whether or not to take our foursome to Mexico with my parents, I thought I would AT LEAST be prepared with a pair of new sunnies in case we do in fact decide to go.   Here are a few pics of the gorgeous new Aviator shades from Michael Kors Spring 2015 line.  Love the classic look of the aviator.

Sure enough, just as I was taking this last shot, the sun started to blaze through the window so CLEARLY the weather is turning around here and I'll be needing these asap.  Good, smart purchases - that's what I always say when shopping. ;)

GLAM

Oct '14

Nate and I are currently obsessed with the Netflix show Mad Men.  All of the women are decked out (even at home on like a tuesday afternoon) with this gorgeous jewelry - so it wasn't a surprise when I found myself drawn to these bulky, almost costume type pieces for the wedding that we went to on Saturday.  

Modern take on the 50's and 60's style pieces.

BCBG - 25 years strong.  I'll post a few pics in the Style section actually wearing the bling.  I felt really pretty (even 25 pounds pregnancy heavy) and I was happy to get a few compliments on them too.

Sept '14

Lancome Colour Design

I picked up this really pretty (and tiny) eyeshadow palette for the beginning of Fall.  I like that it has a light and dark (brow bone and crease) as well as a fall brown and of course my favourite colour pink. 

Colours are as follow:

TL: Creme Lustre (Shimmer)

TR: Visionary (Sheen)

BL: Statuesque (Intense)

BR: Luxe Dark Grey (Matte)

Although these Bath and Body Works hand soaps aren't very 'glamourous', I still want to feature them because of they're oh so soft foam texture and fabulous scents!  I use the Lemon one in the kitchen and then place the others around our bathrooms in the house.  These are a few of my favourites:

*On a side note, I discovered while out shopping with my hubby and Scarlet that the Bath and Body Works soaps with the tiny beads are actually quite horrible for the environment.  Nate told me that the beads had a very difficult time breaking down and compromise whatever they come into contact with when they get washed down the drain.  Plants, animals and our drinking water.  So, I'll be sticking with the foam.  Who knew?  Goes to show - you learn something new everyday.  

#BathandBodyWorks

A little gift for me...from myself

I've been dying to get out of the house for at least a few hours everyday (that's what bed rest will do to you), but unfortunately, it's been a little bit too rainy to enjoy the beach or go for walks to the park, so we went to the next best place - Chinook Centre!  (Haha).  I picked up a few goodies but wanted to feature this amazing night cream that I have had in the past.  It's Lancome's Renergie lift multi-action.  It comes at a pretty penny ($122) but now that I'm in my early thirties, I figure I need something a little stronger than the Clinique and Nivea lotions I was using in high school and university.

 I love the pretty purple jar that it come in as well, not to mention the pink cream!  It's like this stuff was designed just for me.  The scent it quite subtle and reminds me of fresh pink roses.

I also love the smooth heavy texture.  I have to tie my hair back before putting it on or it will stick right to my face.  This stuff goes on around 1/2 hour before bed or it will smear all over your pillow; but, I still give it a full 10/10

SUMMER BDAY GIFT 

(from my best friend Jenny)

This girl knows me!  I received a gorgeous MAC gift box set from Jenny this year full of beautiful nudes!   I was so excited because a) I didn't have to go out of the house to shop for it b) they are the PERFECT colours and c) I'm pumped to be posting for the GLAM section again!!!

The lipstick nude colour is Soft Savour Lipstick in a Lustre sheen.

10/10

Lipgloss: Feeling Fine Lipglass

Brow Highlight: Shade 1 Cool Companions

Eyelid: Veluxe Peralfusion shadow

Crease: Fard a Paupieres

Eyeliner: Graphblack Technakohl Liner

We also have a tradition to purchase a body butter in a different scent for each other every single birthday.  This year I received PassionFruit which smells divine.

Jenny also bought me some very racy and sexy underwear that I can't post on the blog!  She and I were talking about the fact that when you are pregnant all you really want to wear are your oldest, softest, biggest granny panties that you own for a whole ten months so it's nice to get some new cute lacy ones to look forward to after you shrink back to your regular size.  

Spring pick-ups for my skin

I'm really giving Nivea a fair chance here.  I love their day cream Q10 formula so I thought I would pick up the night lotion, the anti-wrinkle eye care and the cleansing wipes.  The cocoa butter formula from Palmers is for my ever expanding belly.  I used the lotion last pregnancy and LOVED it - no stretch marks (knock on wood) and the scent smells like someone just cracked open a coconut for you.  So far I really like this oil as it absorbs right into the skin within seconds and makes you feel super silky smooth.  

Spring scents

These are a few of my go-to perfumes for Spring.  Some of them are new and some are OLD!  Not the bottles but the brands.  For example, I think I'm on my third bottle of JLo 'Still'  HAHA!  Whenever I wear it, I always get compliments and questions about what it is.  Actually, same for JLo 'Miami Glow'.  It kills me cause you want to say Dior or Carolina Herrera, but nope - JLo.  Good ole Jenny from the block.  :)

This is my favourite fancy one ;)  I wear this fairly often.

Left to Right:  VS, Hugo Boss Woman, JLo Still, Gucci, Kenzo, JLo Miami Glow, Calvin Klein.

Back to M.A.C!

New Lipstick - Japanese Maple 

Definitely my favourite new 'nude'  It's got a bit of gloss and matte combined.  Colour lasts when a lip liner is applied first.  One of my former Fowler student's now works at M.A.C and she helped me pick this shade out - major perk of being a teacher.

10/10

M.A.C Blush brush $42 #116

I wanted to get a smaller brush for my NARS coral blush that I got a few weeks ago and this one is perfect.  Super soft yet firm and you can feel the quality in the bristles.  

10/10

I got naked.

Cheating on M.A.C yet again...

So so so pretty.

NAKED 3 URBAN DECAY

I don't remember the last time I was this excited about a new makeup product.  I feel like this palette is the be-all end-all combo for me in terms of day, night and special eyeshadow.  I'm so in love.  The claim from Urban Decay is that most if not all of the colours will flatter every skin tone out there.  Well - I know for one they were right about that for me.  I have tried at least ten different combinations of light + medium or medium + dark or light + dark and they all work amazingly well together.  Currently I'm venturing into 3 and 4 colour combos and creating new shades that don't initially appear in the palette.  It's fun too.  It's almost as though they've made a foolproof collaboration for the makeup lover who doesn't necessarily know or understand colour combos.  Seriously I love this.  There are 4 matte colours and 8 shimmery ones.  Major win here ladies.

10/10

NARS - Super Orgasm Blush

(That name kills me)

I'm usually a tried and true MAC cosmetics fiend; but I had a SEPHORA gift card that needed to get used.  I decided on this NARS blush which is perfect for the spring.  The colour is a coral tone with a bit of translucent yellowy shimmer that pops up after it goes on your skin.  Light and fresh looking.  Gotta say it - I'm a fan.

10/10

1. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Overnight Hydrating Masque

2. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser

3. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Toner

1. I enjoyed the hydrating masque.  In our climate it can be so dry that I resort to putting vaseline on my face overnight.  This was a lovely alternative.  It was not sticky or greasy and my skin absorbed it almost immediately so there was zero residue on my pillowcase.  Woke up with ULTRA (haha) soft skin.  Product is almost scent free which I liked

10/10

2.Very mild cleanser.  I almost felt like it didn't quite get everything off of my face.  I have very sensitive skin and this was gentle and did not strip my skin.  Product is semi scent free - smells like warm laundry fresh out of the dryer.  

9.5/10

3. I've always been told that I need to use a toner - literally the Clinique cosmetics lady behind the counter pushed one on me when I was around 16 years old!  But the truth is, I don't really know what they do, or do for you.  I don't notice a different in my skin being 'evened out' or 'refined' after use so for that reason, I don't always buy toners or use them.  This one however is made with Avocado and Kernel oil so almost like a moisturizer it was soft and luscious after use.

9/10

#1 Winter Scent

Narcisco Rodrigez 

I love the warm cotton scent this one emits.  To me it smells like I've just wrapped myself up in a thick fuzzy throw with a good book by the fire and it's snowing outside.  It's very intimate and slightly musky. Top notes include Osmanthus, Amber and Vetiver.  Light white vanilla and orange are also present and tame the finish really nicely.  I adore it.

Anyone who really knows me knows that I have had an obsession with perfume since I was about 14 years old.  I think that it all started with the 'peach' scent from TheBodyShop and I was hooked.  I currently have over 50 bottles of various perfumes around the master bedroom and our bathroom - you could definitely say I'm a collector.  The only problem is that they do 'go bad' after a few years so I like to use them up before they expire. The above photo is a pic of a few of my winter faves.  

Helen of Troy Gold Series 1-1/2" Curling Iron

$50 at Sally Beauty Shop

I wanted to give a larger barrel a try.  This one has a heat setting all the way up to 420 degrees.  

The large barrel is quick to heat up and stays hot as long as you have it plugged in - so you need to 

watch that you don't leave it sitting out and 'on'.  

Results:  I like how hot it can get but I did burn my finger on the very first attempt.  It is a bit on the heavy side.  When I bought it, I was told that I would need to hold the curl for at least 15-20 seconds - a bit of an arm workout.  I still prefer my Conair silver metal curling iron because of the barrel metal, for some reason it just works better with my hair.  However the size of this Helen of Troy barrel gives me the large wavy curls that I was looking for.  I'll probably use both irons on special days and my smaller one on a daily basis.  

8/10

Nivea Q10 night cream 

Results:  I like the light creamy feel of this night lotion.  It isn't too heavy or sticky and it's something that I can quickly massage on after taking my make-up off.  The scent is HEAVENLY.  I didn't tell Nate that I had a new lotion on and when I climbed into bed he kept telling me how good I smelled.  He literally stuck his nose on my neck and inhaled over and over again.  HAHA.  Very cute and worth the price for that reaction.  As far as a an anti-wrinkle treatment, I was born with wrinkles so that beauty claim by the brands has always been a bit of a cop-out for me.
9.5/10

Nivea Express Eye Make-up Remover

(with Blue Cornflower Extract)

I veered from my regular Loreal Make-up remover as they were all out of the product and chose to try this remover instead.  I have to say I'm not totally pleased.  It left a slight 'greasy' film on my skin which without a doubt left make-up on my white pillow case.  Major bummer.  I instantly went out and bought the Nivea Gentle Make-up Remover with Provitamin B5 (no clue what that is).  Wouldn't recommend this product.
5/10