2011 Beauty Favorites

Good evening ladies :) (and gents)! I hope each and every one of you had a Merry Christmas or a wonderful Holiday Season, wherever you may be and whatever you may celebrate!

I am writing tonight about all of the products that never failed to keep me looking beautiful in 2011. Most YouTube beauty girls and beauty bloggers are sharing their most loved products of the year and it inspired me to tell you about mine.

As I have a lot of products to talk about I will be talking about them in the following categories: Eyes, Lips, Face, Nails, Fragrance and Hair.

Let's get started!

Eyes

Eyeshadow

From L to R: NYX eyeshadows I made into a quad (not sure of the exact names), Wet n Wild's Vanity palette, Wet n Wild's single eyeshadows in Brulee and Nutty, NYX single eyeshadows in Iced Mocha and Frosted Lilac.

I used a lot of neutral and taupe eyeshadow this year. When I wasn't wearing neutral colors in 2011, you would often catch me with a purple smokey eye! Wet n Wild has really stepped up their game in the quality of their eye shadows and I highly recommend everyone try them. NYX eyeshadows are always beautiful and I will continue to use them for years to come I am sure.

Mascara

I was able to give Dior's Diorshow Extase mascara and Diorshow Maximizer lash primer a try and I must say, they are amazing products - especially the lash primer.

And of course, as you all know I love NYX's Doll Eye mascara in Volume and I used it almost every day in 2011!

Primer, Eyeshadow base and Eyeliner

Revlon's ColorStay liquid eye pen was my go to liquid eyeliner in 2011. For gel eyeliner, my top choice was the Physician's Formula Custom Eye Enhancing Gel CreamLiner trio for hazel eyes. The trio comes with a sparkly black (which I use for my lash line, tight line and water line), a pretty purple and a medium brown. My favorite eyeshadow base has been NYX's Jumbo eyeshadow pencil in Milk, and almost all year I primed my eye lids with Palladio's Herbal eyeshadow primer.

Lips

Lipstick

My most used lipsticks of 2011:

Hard Candy Visibly Wet shockingly glossy lip pencils in Must Have and Cupcake. I won't talk too much about these, since I did do a full review on them earlier this year. They were definitely used many times throughout the Summer and Autumn months.

Rimmel London's Airy Fairy. My lip color but better and the most beautiful nude I have ever tried.

Dior Addict lipstick in 578 Diorkiss - the formula of this lipstick is so luxurious, creamy and glossy. I want to get my hands on more in 2012!

Lipgloss

I loved two different lip glosses from two different brands, I enjoyed the formula of these glosses so much that I own more than one from each line.

Glossaholic lip gloss by Hard Candy - shown from top to bottom in the photo above - I have the shades Fire Ball, Fairy and Gorgeous. These are non sticky glosses with a huge amount of glitter in them. Perfect for glam nights out and photo shoots!

Lip Luster lip gloss by Femme Couture - shades shown above are Berries n Cream and Creamy Coral. The formula is super creamy with tiny fine glitters and they are super pigmented. Love these glosses!

Lip Balm

Since Maybelline's Baby Lips lip balm came out, it has been my holy grail moisturizing product for my lips. I still can't believe the wonders this has been doing for my dry and chapped lips this winter. Go get you some! My strawberry Hello Kitty lip balm was also a favorite.

Face

Skin Correcting Products

My go to foundation routine for most of 2011: I applied Hard Candy's Sheer Envy Skin Perfecting foundation primer
 after moisturizing my face. Next I applied Revlon ColorStay Aqua mineral makeup. (This is a powder to cream finish foundation with medium to full coverage - easy to apply and great in a rush!) Lastly I concealed under my eyes with Revlon PhotoReady concealer and set everything in with Hard Candy's Welcome Matte mattifying powder for a flawless finish.

Blush and Bronzer

When I wanted a sunkissed glow all over my face, I used Hard Candy's So Baked Bronzer in Tiki and for sculpting and contouring my face I used NYC's matte bronzer in Sunny on a daily basis.

My top two blushes of the year were NYX mosaic powder in Rosey and Rimmel London Lasting Finish blush in Berry. Two super gorgeous shades!

Nails

This was a hard category to choose favorites for, simply because I own and used so many different nail polish colors that I love a lot. Above any other nail products I loved crackle polish in 2011 and wore it more often than not. China Glaze is my brand of choice for crackle - the colors shown in the photo above from left to right are Broken Hearted, Fault Line, Black Mesh and Tarnished Gold. <3

Hair 

4 holy grail hair products of 2011:

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine anti-frizz serum: this serum is enriched with argon oil and apricot. It costs about $3 and makes your hair sleek and shiny no matter how you style it.

Tresemme vitamin enriched heat tamer spray: every time I apply heat to my hair, I use this product - it claims to style and protect and it does just that!

Got2b Dazzling  shine spray: this spray gives my naturally curly hair so much shine and really helps with eliminating frizz as well. 

Got2b Kinkier double curling power mousse: I scrunch my natural curls with this mousse almost every time I wear it curly - it holds curl, boosts curls, and is non sticky which is a huge reason why I love it so much. It is infused with nectar oil and mineral salts which really aide in forming beautiful curls.

Onto my last category......

Fragrances

These two fragrances are from the same Baby Phat line by Kimora Lee Simmons - Dare Me and Lov Me. Dare Me smells tropical like fruit and coconut. Lov Me is a more sensual smell with notes of vanilla and caramel. As you can see from the photo I have used them both all up almost! I will be repurchasing these scents and encourage you all to try them, they are delicious.

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So there you have it - that is my most loved products list for 2011. I realize that I listed a lot of items but it was a years worth of favorites to talk about and I am a beauty junkie :). 

The majority of items listed above are still available in stores - so feel free to check them out so they can become favorites of yours too!

If you have a 2011 Beauty Favorites video or post - please share it with me and comment below!

Thank you for reading as always,

PEACE  LOVE & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

<3

NOTW: Candy Cane - ft China Glaze & KLEANCOLOR

Candy Cane Nails

Hi everybody! 

As Christmas is only a few days away, I wanted to share the Christmas nail look I will be rocking this year with all of you! Candy Canes are one of my favorite Christmas sweet treats, so I decided to try a design on my nails. 

If you want to know how I did the Candy Cane design and how mine turned out, then please keep reading.

What You'll Need:

1. A solid white nail polish. (I used China Glaze "White on White".)

2. A glittery red nail art lacquer. (I used one with a very thin brush by KLEANCOLOR it doesn't have a name.) ~ If you don't have a nail art polish, you can use regular nail polish with a tooth pick or even a regular fine tipped paint brush to create the look.

3. A fast drying top coat. (I used China Glaze Fast Forward top coat.)

4. Paper towel or Kleenex.

How to Create the Design:

It's super simple! The first step is to apply 2 coats of your solid white nail polish. Let that completely dry. Next take your sparkly red polish and a thin nail brush and start painting on the stripes. You can google a Candy Cane design if you want - to aid you in creating the lines. To get the effect of the Candy Cane you will need to draw the lines diagonally and alternate the thickness of them. I started at the bottom of my nail and tried to make a thick line, two thin ones, another thick line and then a small medium sized line at the very tip of my nails. Take your time drawing the lines and I do recommend doing a few practice nails first to ensure you have the hang of it. Another tip - when making the thin lines on your nails, try to have as little polish on your brush as possible. Dabbing some of the access product on a paper towel or tissue will help with this. Once you have all your lines on let them dry for about 15 minutes before applying your top coat to avoid the red color spreading or "bleeding" and you're done!

Photos:

Here are some pictures of the finished look!

As you can probably see from the photos, my lines are by no means perfect, but that's okay - because the lines on Candy Canes are not necessarily perfect either. So if your lines are not completely straight, don't worry about it. You also can't see the glitter in the red that I used, but the glitter in it makes it even more holiday appropriate! 

I hope you all enjoyed this quick nail look and as always ask me any questions if you have any! If you don't have a mani picked out for Christmas yet, do try this one - it's so quick and easy!

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season. MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Peace & Love

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<3

Review: REVLON COLORBURST Lip Butter

Review ~ REVLON COLORBURST Lip Butter

Hi everyone! 

As per your requests, I am going to tell you what  my thoughts are on the new COLORBURST lip butters from Revlon. Yes, I finally got my hands on them! My review is sort of mixed on this product but overall I love it a lot! 

Onto the review:

Revlon advertises these lip butters as "Buttery balm with beautiful shiny color to give you baby soft, healthy glowing lips" They claim that 94% of women felt lips were softer, smoother, and instantly hydrated." They also say the following things about this product on Revlon's website: 

- Hydrating mango, shea and coconut butter formula boosts lip moisture by 156%
- Pampering gel formula provides super charged hydration and glides on lips buttery smooth
- Sheer to medium color with buttery shine
- Available in 20 luscious shades

Is it hydrating?

Unfortunately I do not find these lip butters very hydrating at all. If you have already smooth and soft lips, you may consider these hydrating. For people like me though, who live in cold climates and always have dry and chapped lips, these are not the product to use for moisturizing. This is mainly what bothers me the most about this product. Revlon claims these lip butters should give you baby soft and healthy lips, that it should boost lip moisture and that it will provide supercharged hydration. This is exactly what I expected when I purchased them but all they really turned out to be is a lipstick with a glossy finish that provides a tiny bit of moisture. 

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With that being said, I otherwise really love these lip butters!! They are glossy, shiny, pigmented, long lasting and the 20 shades Revlon has to offer are gorgeous. Some of them have a shimmery/glitter finish and some have a cream finish. I use them as lipsticks and make sure to have already moisturized lips before applying them and they look amazing. If you have cracked, chapped or dry lips - DO NOT apply this product. It will look cakey and just not pretty. 

One more thing: don't let the delicious names of the shades deceive you, they are unscented for the most part!

I only picked up two shades because I wasn't sure if I would like them. (They are about $8 in Canada.)

 The shades I chose:

Strawberry Shortcake is a flattering blue toned bubblegum pink shade. It is a cream finish and can be built to medium dark pigmentation. I adore the color of this one!

Cherry Tart is a very cherry red color. This one is my favorite of the two shades I chose - it is perfect for this time of year and this red really looks good with my skin tone. It has a sparkly glossy finish and can be built to maximum pigmentation.

Would I recommend this product?

If you are looking for a LIP BUTTER that will improve the health of your lips and hydrate them, NO.

If you are on the hunt for a new lipstick with a glossy, creamy, not too pigmented finish similar to higher end lines such as Dior Addict lipstick, YES.

Overall I enjoy these lipsticks, I just wish this product provided the hydration Revlon claims it should in their advertisements. 

I hope this review has helped some of you when deciding if you want to try this product for yourself. If you see a shade you like in the line, give it a try and let me know what you think of it! You can check out the whole color selection here. Please also feel free to comment below and tell me what your opinions are if you have already purchased this product, I would love to know! 

Hope you are all having a wonderful December! <3

Peace.Love

NOTW: Orly "Oui" from the Holiday Soiree Collection 2011

NOTW: Orly's "Oui" from the 2011 Holiday Soiree Collection

Hey beauties! I recently purchased this Orly shade at Sally's and I wanted to share it with you because it's super gorgeous!!

It is from the Holiday Soiree Collection. Sadly I could only get my hands on one but there are 5 more amazing colors in the collection. (Check out the other shades here.)

I was attracted to "Oui" the most - it is a duo-chrome type color that shines a beautiful rich purple or shimmery gold depending upon how the light reflects on it. The prettiest part of all is that the polish is also full of glitter!

Here are some swatches:

With gold shimmer (this picture does not do it justice):

With purple shimmer: 

 

The formula of this polish is thick but easy to apply and fast drying. I used two generous coats of "Oui" and topped it off with China Glaze Fast Forward top coat. The shade is very unique and I love it a lot! I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of this collection. Be sure to click on the link above and look at other colors...beware though, because you won't be able to resist buying at least one!

Peace

&

LOVE

Review - O.P.I Black Shatter Nail Lacquer

Review ~ O.P.I ~ Black Shatter

Hey everyone. Tonight I am going to give my review on O.P.I's Black Shatter nail lacquer. I just had to review this one, because unfortunately I am really disappointed in the quality of this product.

This is a "crackle" nail polish - you wear a lighter color underneath and it separates on your nails making a crackle effect (like the design on the cover of the polish shown above) letting the light color peek through. These are great, I have many crackle polishes from other brands that I love very much. I did not care for this one at all though, here's why:

This polish applied and looked great for the first two weeks that I owned it. After just a few weeks I could not remove the lid because the polish somehow got stuck to the outside of the bottle opening and the inside of the applicator making it impossible to open. Still to this day I have to run it under very hot water for 2-3 minutes to get the lid to come off. (This trick always works like a charm!) After one month of owning this product the formula became clumpy and very difficult to apply as a result of this and stopped working altogether. All that happens now when I apply it is basically nothing. It no longer creates a crackle effect and it ends up looking like a clumpy mess. I tried running the brush under hot water to remove the clumps and revive the polish but the formula itself is now chunky and it cannot be fixed. The bristles on the brush are all stuck together as well. The cost for it was around $12 CAD at a random salon in a mall. I expected it to last me a long time as O.P.I polishes normally do. I have also asked around out of curiosity and every person I spoke to who owned this polish had similar complaints to mine. This one was a total fail for me! 

Here are some pictures of what my bottle of Black Shatter looks like:

Please know that I have nothing against O.P.I as a brand in general - this is just my opinion on this product and I wanted to share my experiences with it. 

I highly recommend China Glaze CRACKLEglaze in "Black Mesh" as an alternative to this one, it works much better without all of the mess and it is almost half the price ($6.99 at Sally Beauty Supply). 

Please let me know about your experiences with this product I would love to know if you enjoy it or if you have the same complaints about it as I do.

Thanks for taking the time to read this review. 

PEACE & LOVE 

Small Sally Beauty Supply Haul

Small Haul - Sally Beauty Supply

Hey Ladies!!! Hope you are all having a wonderful November! I am so sorry for the lack of posts lately, life has been hectic around here. It's also been snowing a lot where I live and it is starting to get super cold! I finally have a night to myself so I thought I would share what I purchased at my recent trip to Sally's.

I actually only went to Sally's to get some hair color (my roots are showing big time!) but I ended up getting a couple other things. Here are the goodies:

My current hair color is Ion Color Brilliance liquid permanent hair color in "Dark Brown". If you want to see what it looks like on the hair, check out some previous blog posts written before this one. I really love this color on me and the brand Ion itself. These colors only cost $4.99 and they are salon quality. I also grabbed some of my favorite deep conditioner (great for keeping your hair healthy and for a moisturizer for your hair after you color it) - Ion Repair Solutions Effective Care Treatment - it claims to "Strengthen and moisturize weak, damaged hair". It is 100% vegan too! It was on sale for $7.99 so I couldn't have been happier, this is a great product!

Since I bought 3 hair colors (only two are shown above because the third color is for my bestie) I also got a free gift - Ion Color Brilliance Holiday Wristlet - this is a sparkly silver wristlet with sequins on it. Inside was a hair color applicator which I really needed and two hair clips. If you by 3 Ion Color Brilliance hair colors in the month of November you will get this free gift too.

Lastly I bought a couple of nail polishes. I just couldn't help myself. 

  

I picked up an Orly polish in the color "Oui" which is from the Holiday Soiree collection ($6.49) and a China Glaze CRACKLEglaze in "Black Mesh" ($6.99). (More posts coming soon featuring these!)

 That is everything I got from Sally's. Please check all of these products out for yourselves, I promise you will love them! Thanks as always for reading and I will talk to you all in my next post.

Peace + Love

October Beauty Favories 2011

October Favorites

Hi everyone! It's the beginning of November, so it's that time again to share with you my most used and favorite products from the month of October. I really fell into Fall this month and started using darker more vibrant colors on my eyes, lips and face. I am also going to throw in a couple non beauty favorites at the end. If you have any questions about any products mentioned or want a more in depth review, please don't hesitate to contact me! 

Here are the products I have been loving:

Eyes

L-R: "Frosted Lilac", "Rust", "Prune", "Daisy" and "Midnight"

I used NYX eyeshadow all month long, I almost always reached for a single shadow from my collection no matter what look I was doing. Above are the 5 I used the most.

This is pretty much the only eyeliner I used in October, it's the Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips custom eye enhancing Gel CreamLiner trio for Hazel eyes. These are highly pigmented, great for doing wings or looks on the top lash line and for tight lining and lining the water line. These stay put all day long no matter where you put them! The trio comes with a shimmery brown, a purple with tiny silver glitter and a jet black with larger purple/pink glitter. I really love these and highly recommend them! They are worth every penny.

This is my all time favorite mascara! I have not found one that I love more yet from the drugstore or from a higher end brand. This gives my short thin lashes so much volume, definition and length. I wore this every day in October. 

Lips

I wore 2 lips combos for the whole month. Red for a night out or if I was wearing a natural eye look and Berry nude when I wanted a more natural lip shade.

Hard Candy Visibly Wet Shockingly Glossy lip pencil in "Must Have" and Hard Candy Glossaholic lip gloss in "Fireball".

Rimmel London Lasting Finish lipstick in "Airy Fairy" and Hard Candy's Glossaholic lip gloss in "Gorgeous".

Face

Foundation and Concealer:

Femme Couture Flawless Touch creme foundation and Revlon PhotoReady Concealer in Light.

Blush and Bronzer:

NYC (New York Color) Matte Bronzer in "Sunny" and  Rimmel London Lasting Finish blush in "Berry".

Hair

I have 3 favorites this month that fall into the Hair category.

#1: Hair Bows

#2: Ion Anti Frizz Solutions styling mousse:

This is a lightweight medium hold mousse. I used this every single day in October whether I scrunched my natural curls or blow dried my hair straight. It really does tame frizz very well and leave your hair feeling soft, shiny and silky. This product claims to be a heat protectant as well which is an added bonus. It is alcohol and paraben free, completely vegan, and cruelty free. I am enjoying this a lot, I will be going back to Sally's to get more when this is gone.

#3: Got2B Dazzling shine spray

 

I have been using this product for years and it does exactly what it claims, it provides shine and de-frizzes the hair!

 

Brushes:

I used these two brushes a lot last month. They are from Spa Resource and can be purchased at Walmart.

I did not really use one particular fragrance or nail polish a lot in October, I changed all of those things up pretty often throughout the month which is why those categories are not included this time around. I do however want to add some non beauty favorites in my post this month - just a couple of extra things I have been loving all month long. This is a fun thing to do, since all I ever really talk about on my blog are things related to being beautiful. 

The first non beauty thing I have been loving is SWEETS! I know, not good for my health, but I have a huge sweet tooth.

 

These Skittles satisfied my sweet tooth cravings a lot in October! :) 

I just want to share one last thing with you all. It is an album that has been playing over and over again since it came out in late August. It's David Guetta's Nothing But the Beat: Deluxe Edition. If you like dance music and house - I highly suggest you check this album out if you haven't yet. I am obsessed. The Deluxe Edition of this album has two discs, one with collaborations and one with just straight up house music. My top 5 songs from both discs according to iTunes are Titanium (Feat. Sia), Crank It Up (Feat. Akon), The Future, The Alphabeat and Lunar (Feat. Afrojack).

And that is it. Those are all of the things I have been loving ever so much in the month of October, 2011! Try some of these things out for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

I want to send peace and love to all of you and thank you so much for reading!

=)