FOTD # 1

I thought I'd share something different with you today. This is a look I wore to go for lunch with friends, it's simple and pretty. I used my Stila Convertible colour in Peony for the first time and I really like it. I have yet to perfect the art of applying cream blushes but I'm working on it.

I love the eyes on this look, simple and bronze. I've started to mix my Naked and Naked 2 palettes to create some looks, in this one I used Chopper from the Naked 2 palette with Buck and Darkhorse form the Naked palette. I love doing bronze looks in the summer because they really make my green eyes pop.

Products used:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Urban Decay Naked Palette
Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Zero
Maybelline Falsies Flared in Blackest Black
Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation in I20
Benefit Boi-ing concealer in 01
Nars Laguna Bronzer
Stila Convertible Colour in Peony
Dior Shimmer Powder in Amber Diamond
Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple

Sephora VIB Haul!

A chatty video about all the stuff I got from Sephora for the VIB sale!

VIB sale preparation!

So I'm totally Type - A, a Ravenclaw through and through, yadda yadda yadda, I'm a nutbar with OCD who likes to prepare for things WAY IN ADVANCE OK? Anyways, the Sephora VIB sale is happening this month!! So in preparation I've been narrowing down what I'm going to purchase to make this time as minimally stressful as possible. I have a couple of goals/rules.

1. Only one thing from each brand (so as not to go crazy with any one brand)
2. Try and keep it under $200 (as I'm a poor student and this is to last me for a while)

Seems reasonable yes? Onto the goodies I'm ogling!

1. Nars Laguna Bronzer - $39 ($31.20 after discount) I already own this in a duo with Orgasm, but I hit pan last month (in a big way) and because I love this bronzer I feel like a full sized version is in order.

2. Bobbi Brown Desert Twilight Palette - $70 ($56 after discount) Ok this is crazy expensive for a palette I know, $7 an eyeshaow. I also know I've been lusting after this since early September. Kate of Gh0stparties has raved about this numerous times as well. There is a very strong possibility that this will come home with me. Also! It would be my first ever Bobbi Brown purchase (totally attempting to justify it here).

3. Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Palette - $45 ($36 after discount) So far more reasonable/way more bang for you buck is this Too Faced palette. You guys know my deep seated love of neutral palettes and of eyeshadow palettes in general (it's a little obscene). With this discount this works out to be $3 an eyeshadow and I don't own any Too Faced products. Plus the reviews are pretty good as well. This is a highly likely purchase.

4. Lorac Pro Palette - $55 ($44 after discount) Another eyeshadow palette you say?! Psh, of course! I'm obsessed! Amarixe talked about this in a recent haul video, raving about how awesome it is. 16 eyeshadows, half matte and half shimmery. I love me some matte eyeshadows, so this is a serious contender. This works out $2.75 an eyeshadow, which is an even better deal then the Too Faced palette! Need to do a bit more research into this palette to make sure though. I've been having trouble finding swatches of it.

 5. Nars Eyeshadow Duo in Portobello (or Kalahari) - $39 ($31.20 with discount) Ok so I know I said no repeats on brands, but as Laguna is a staple I'm tempted to make an exception. Essie Button raved about Portobello recently and Fleur De Force raved about Kalahari awhile ago. Both seem like perfect weekend away duo's in that I could throw that in a bag with my 217 brush and be good to go. Not 100% sold on this though, as I have so many palettes on my wish list that are much better deals.

6. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Natural Beauty - $33 ($26.40 with discount) So I did break my buying ban to purchase the set of four blushes back in October, which I love and expect reviews to come soon! Because I've never been much of a blush girl until recently, my collection consists of 3 blushes (two of the blushes from the Tarte kit are highlighter/bronzer) so I'm eager to add to my collection. This one was raved about by Essie Button recently as being the perfect Snow White blush. I'm also looking at Nars Sin/Nars Deep Throat. Anyone have any really good blush selections?

7. Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation - $38.50 ($30.80 after discount) Foundation is a bit boring, but Fleur De Force raved about this in her foundation video, and my Chanel Vitalumier must be getting past the halfway point. With this discount this is $20 cheaper than my Chanel foundation and is supposed to be fantastic. I'm also eying the YSL Teint Touche Eclait, which my mum picked up recently and loves.

I think that's pretty much everything on my list! I need to narrow it down, I'm thinking of ditching the Nars duo's and getting rid of ONE palette. The Shiseido foundation and Nars bronzer are pretty much guaranteed though. Anyone else really excited for this sale? What are you stocking up on/getting ready to experiment with?

August Favorites!

August FLEW by and I can't believe it's September and back to school time already! (YAY I might be the only person who LOVES going back to school) I'm super excited to start being able to wear boots and pants and leather jackets again. I think Fall/Spring are my favorite seasons. I love summer, but the heat and sun tend to keep me indoors too much. Winter on the other hand is my nemesis because it's so long and I get really lazy in the winter. Anyways on to the favorites!

1. My Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation has been a dream to use. I get so many compliments on my skin when I wear this and it really does make my skin look flawless. This feels amazing on, totally light and as if your not wearing any foundation. (Ignore the lipstick in the picture, I didn't have time to take new photos for this)

2. Stila French Rivera Pallet (Kitten, Grace and Mahogany) I have been wearing this trio almost everyday since I got it. I actually hid it on myself so I would wear other eyeshadows I just love it that much. This is the perfect trio for day to day looks and I honestly can't recommend it enough.

3. Chanel Coco Rouge Shine in Boy is a perfect neutral look for lips, really pretty and subtle. On me it's the perfect my look but better colour and I've been reaching for this again and again this month. This was recommended to me by my friend Christine over at Starry Eyed Beauty.

4. Nars Laguna bronzer/ Orgasm blush duo has become my go to for my bronzer and blusher. I didn't really wear blush until I got this duo as I have naturally very rosy cheeks but Orgasm looks really pretty when popped onto the apples of my cheeks. Laguna is the perfect bronzer for my pale skin, even better than last months favorite Sephora bronzer. I now really want to try more NARS products but I'll wait for a VIB sale.

5. Tanya Burr aka Pixi2woo is one of my favorite all time YouTubers/makeup gurus. She's been doing this amazing thing all August long called Awesome August where she posts a new video (tutorial, outfit of the day and so forth) every other day in August. I've been loving the large amount of new tutorials and this Pretty Little Liars Aria inspired look is my favorite. Tanya is one of my favorites because she actually is a makeup artist so I find watching her tutorials I learn a lot more than some of my other favorites (who are still amazing, but Tanya has some really great techniques and such). She just seems like such a lovely person, really relelateable. If you haven't checked out her channel make sure you do!

Massive Highend Haul!

So on Tuesday I posted about returning my Sephora + Pantone brushes, and because I was in Toronto I stocked up on a few other products that aren't easily found in my area.

I picked up the Laura Mercier Oil Free Flawless Face Kit ($80CAD) from Sephora. It's a really good deal as you get two brushes to apply product with, the foundation primer, a tinted moisturizer, the undercover pot (two shades of concealer with the translucent powder) and a couple of applicator spounges with this really handy makeup bag. I'm really excited to test these out as I've heard amazing things about the concealer and the translucent powder. Laura Mercier is a rather expensive brand, their translucent powder retails for $45 for a full size one.

I picked up the Nars Laguna/Orgasm bronzer/blush duo which retails for $50. I forgot to take a closer picture of it, but I will post a review + swatches in a month or so once I've given it a thorough test drive. I've been using it for a few days and I have to say I love it so far.

 I also snagged a little travel version of Urban Decay's All Nighter Spray for $14 and cashed in 100 Beauty Insider points for a really nice sized sample of Benifits Watt's Up highlighter.

Unfortunately there is no Chanel counter near me (the nearest one is 45 minutes away) so I took advantage of the fact that I was right by one to pick up the Vitalumiere Aqua foundation in the colour B10. This is a rather expensive foundation at $49, but I've heard such amazing things about it from so many YouTubers I respect (Pixi2woo, Missglamorazzi, FleurDeForce) that I really wanted to try it. I've been using it ever since I got it and I adore it.

I also picked up a Coco Rouge Shine in the colour Boy that my friend Christine of Starry Eyed Beauty told me to buy when we did our shopping day together. I took her advice and bought this super pretty shade but almost had a heart attack when the lady rung me in. It was over $30 for a lipstick! I think MAC lipsticks are expensive at $18 but this was huge sticker shock for me. While I really like this product and packaging I just don't think I can justify spending that kind of money all the time on lipstick.

The bonus of buying my Chanel products at the Bay was that I received a $10 off with $50 spent in the beauty department gift card for my next purchase! I had also been given a $50 gift card for looking after my neighbors pets for a few days for my local mall, which thankfully has a Dior and MAC counter in the Bay.

So I just had to buy the Dior Diorskin Shimmer Star in Amber Diamond which retails for $45. This has been mentioned by just about everyone as an amazing highlighter that you can also use for your eyes and I've been lusting after this for a while. So I was $5 short and while the Dior Lipgloss in Sari Pink is on my wish list I really didn't feel like paying $30+ again for a lip product in a week. So I went over to the MAC counter and picked up the cremesheen in Creme Cup! I haven't purchased a MAC lipstick in so long and while I have a ton of things to depot so I can b2mac them I decided this was one of the least expensive beauty purchases I could make so I could get that $10 off.

I also ordered online these two palettes from Stila, the Rome and the French Rivera sets. These are an amazing deal as you get 3 full sized Stila eye shadows + a holder for $18CAD when a single eyeshadow retails for $22CAD. Rome is now sold out, but there are still four other sets to get. I'm on the fence as to order the other three sets as these are such a great deal. In the Rome set there is Kitten, Golightly and Java. The French Rivera set has Kitten, Grace and Mahogany. Yes I did end up with two kittens but as my friend A- said you can never have too many kittens. I prefer the French Rivera set to the Rome trio as I find it easier to wear during day (the colours are a bit lighter). Both are great investments though, I can see these becoming my go to palettes for weekends getaways, simple pretty neutrals. I'll post a review and swatches really soon as I've already taken the pictures I just want to wear them a bit before I post a full review.

I had quite a bit of sticker shock while buying some of these items (ahem- I'm looking at you Chanel, Nars and Laura Mercier) but I'm really happy I took the plunge and bought these products. I couldn't wait to try them once I got home and I'm loving every one of them so far. I don't normally spend this much money all at once on makeup, but as I'm planning a purchasing ban from September until IMATS and most of these products had been on my wishlist for months I figured I would get a good back to school shopping haul in.