March 31, 2014

March Empties

One of my best months for empties!


Cartier Baiser Vole: I received this sample in 2012's Sephora ItKits, this is a bit too powdery for my taste, but I managed to use it up! Definitely not a repurchase.
Apple & Cinnamon Bath & Shower Gel: the third of 5 no-name brand shower gels, this scent was nothing special, and as I've said before (here) this is nothing special, and I won't repurchase.
Givenchy Black Dahlia: I received this one-use sample from this haul, didn't mind the scent, although maybe a bit musky for my taste, hard to give a good review on this with only one use.


Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser: the best cleanser I've tried! This is almost my HG cleanser! I love Cetaphil, it's perfect for oily, sensitive skin like mine! Have repurchased the Costco size!


Clinique Even Better Skin Tone Correcting Lotion Skin Types 3, 4: from this haul. I got about 6 or 7 uses out of this foil packet. I liked this lotion enough, but didn't find it hydrating enough for my winter dry skin. Will not repurchase.
Bath & Body Works Berry Twinkle Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel: another hand sanitizer used up! I really liked this berry scent, however it did become a bit discoloured, which was worrying. Will purchase but in a different scent.


Algenist Multi-Perfecting Pore Corrector Concentrate: from this haul. This was probably only 5 uses, I didn't dislike the primer, but it isn't as nice as other primers (Tarte, Smashbox, to name a few), so I won't go out and purchase this.
Givenchy Very Irresistible Electric Rose: received in this haul. The scent is more floral than I usually like, I think I like the original version better.


Lancôme Aqua Fusion Teinte (Continuous Infusing Tinted Moisturizer): This is quite old (gross I know), this is probably my first beauty splurge, back when tinted moisturizers were rare, I heard rave reviews about this one from Lancôme so shelled out $32 on it. It wasn't a great colour match (much too yellow for me), and it didn't provide great coverage (I was delusional when I bought it thinking it would cover all my acne, even though it was light coverage, lol, beauty noob). I do like the feel of this on my skin, but I don't think I'll splurge on this again due to the lack of shades offered.
Chapstick Cherry: a classic beauty item! Who doesn't have a chapstick? The cherry scent is nice, but the colour does come off a bit clownish on me. I will repurchase in a different flavour.
Buxom Amplified Lash Mascara: I bought this here. Well the two wand options was novel, I found that I only used the one option, since my eyelashes don't curl well and volume and length are more important to me. I liked this mascara, but not quite as much as other mascaras I've tried (Lancôme Hypnose Star, CoverGirl Lash Blast Fusion), so I will not repurchase.
Ducray Elution Shampoo: the follow-up treatment to Ducray Squanorm Shampoo. This is a creamy, restorative shampoo that heals the scalp. I really enjoy this shampoo, and haven't found a better dandruff treatment than Ducray Squanorm used in combination with Ducray Elution.

What products did you use up in March?

Thanks for reading!




March 29, 2014

NOTD: March 29, 2014


As it's slowly becoming Spring I realized I need to get my dark, vampy manicures out of the way! I think this NOTD would not fly in Spring and Summer!

This is two coats of Nails Inc. Bruton Mews (from this haul) with Nails Inc. Stratford (from this haul) as the accent. I started off with my butter London Nail Foundation and finished it off with my Revlon Multi-Care Base+Top Coat.

Thanks for reading!

March 26, 2014

NOTD: March 26, 2014



Today's mani is two coats of Julep Marion and Wet N' Wild The Gold and the Beautiful (from this haul). I started with my butter London Nail Foundation since Marion stained my nails the last time it was used and finished with Revlon Multi-Care Base+Top Coat.

This is almost a Christmas appropriate mani! I wish the gold flecks in Marion were as noticeable on the nail as in the bottle.

Thanks for reading!

March 23, 2014

March 23rd Haul

Yet again another item I could not pass up at Sephora...


As an avid reader, I loved the series Divergent and couldn't make to combine two of my loves into one with this gorgeous Divergent Multi-Piece Collector's Kit!


Inside L to R: Face palette, 3 palettes, 4 lip gloss, double-ended brush


Face palette L to R: Obscure Coral, Misty Rose, Gleaming Pearl, Intelligent Bronze


Eye palette L to R: Transform, Bold Espresso, Intrepid Moss, Golden Honesty, Altruistic Almond


Eye palette L to R: Diverge, Dauntless Ink, Abnegation Stone, Erudite Sapphire, Serene Vanilla


Eye palette L to R: Choose, Burnt Mahogany, Radiant Initiation, Peaceful Shimmer, Humble Sheen


Lip gloss L to R: Supreme Ritual, Fear Not, Natural Virtue, Temptation's Choice


Double-ended brush

I have been loving playing with this so far! The eye shadow that I've tried have been smooth and easy to work with!

I also added a polish to get up to the free shipping amount


Nails Inc. Sweets Way - definitely looking forward to this cute polish, I've been on a real Nails Inc. kick recently!

I used the mystery bag code on the order (sad that the VIBLUXE code was out of stock), here's the sadness that was inside:


L to R: Philosophy Daily Age-Defying Serum, Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra 24H, Sephora Full Action Extreme Effect Mascara, Clinique for Men Face Scrub, Givenchy Black Dahlia

Not a great code, one single use perfume packet, a foil packet, and a men's product, definitely not one of the better Sephora code's I redeemed.

The free samples were even better, they include the 3 I chose plus 2 additional ones!


L to R: Fresh Soy Face Cleanser, Yves St. Laurent Rouge Pur Couture in Rebel Nudes, Marc Jacobs Daisy, Kate Somerville Oil-Free Moisturizer, and Buxom Show Some Skin Weightless Foundation

All in all, lots of new stuff to play with!

Have you read Divergent? Will you pick up any of Sephora's Divergent Cosmetics?

Thanks for reading!






March 22, 2014

NOTD: March 22, 2014


It's officially spring! Even if it doesn't feel like it here, here's a spring inspired mani! I started with my Revlon Multi-Care Base+Top Coat and then applied two coats of Essie Lilacism (applied like a dream, a much better formula than some of my streaky Essies) to my ring and middle fingers and applied 2 coats of Color Club Apollo Star to my pointer and pinky fingers. I finished it off with a coat of Revlon Multi-Care Base+Top Coat. Both polish are from this haul.

I was really impressed with the formula on both these polish and definitely recommend them!

Thanks for reading!

March 16, 2014

NOTD: Match 16, 2014


This mani is 2 coats of butter London Branwen's Feather (from this haul) over my butter London Nail Foundation and under my Revlon Multi-Care Base+Top Coat.

This colour is a great autumn/winter colour, but I don't think I'll get much use out of it once spring finally arrives. I also wish the shimmer in the bottle was more evident on the nail.

Thanks for reading!



March 12, 2014

NOTD: March 12, 2014


A new favourite neutral! This is two coats of Color Club Sugar Rays (from this haul) over my Orly Top2Bottom base coat.

I love the shimmeryness and slight duochrome of this polish, definitely recommend!

Thanks for reading!

March 11, 2014

March 11, 2014 Haul!


Back row L to R: Nails Inc. The Special Effects Collection, butter London Branwen's Feather, butter London Jack the Lad, Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask

Front row: Kat Von D Autograph Pencil in Rhi-venge

These were all on sale, the nails inc and Kat Von D I picked up from the clearance section of Sephora, and I snapped up the 100 pt Origins mask while there. The butter London I found at Winners and couldn't resist these wintery shades!


Nail polish L to R: Nails Inc. Marylebone, Nails Inc. Electric Lane, Nails Inc. Stratford, butter London Branwen's Feather, butter London Jack the Lad

I've been loving these polish, you will definitely see these in NOTD soon!

Have you bought anything recently?

Thanks for reading!

March 09, 2014

NOTD: March 9, 2014


A much more subtle nail of the day. This is Nails Inc. Porchester Square with Nails Inc. Sloane Gardens as the accent (both from this haul). I used Orly Top2Bottom as the base coat.

I really love Porchester Square, although I'm not sure how flattering it is with my skin tone, it's a great neutral that was easy to work with. Sloane Gardens is a very rough glitter although it was pretty much opaque in 2 coats, I would recommend a thick top coat over this one since the roughness did bother me throughout the day. If you're interested in these colours they're both in the Nails Inc. Autumn Winter Collection still on sale at Sephora.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

March 06, 2014

NOTD: March 6, 2014


A fun mani for today! This is two coats of Sephora by OPI All That Jasmine (from this haul) over my butter London Nail Foundation. I then applied one coat of Wet N' Wild Fast Dry in Party of Five Glitters (from this haul) and finished with my Revlon Multi-Care Base+Top Coat.

I really liked this one! These minty green tealish colours look pretty good on me, and the glitter added some extra sparkle and colour!

Thanks for reading!

March 04, 2014

NOTD: March 4, 2014


My first magnetic NOTD! This is Orly Opposites Attract (from this haul). As you can see the magnetic effect didn't work for me. I'm not sure if I didn't go fast enough or if using a base coat messed this up.

Anyways, I do really like this colour, regardless of the magnetic effect and it had the added bonus of drying quite quickly!

Have you successfully used magnetic polish? Any hints?

Thanks for reading!

March 02, 2014

February Empties

I think I did pretty well with this month's empties!


L to R: Too Faced Primed & Poreless Primer, Compliments Premiere Quality Cotton Pads, Smashbox Hyperlash Mascara, Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub

Too Faced Primed & Poreless Primer: This was my first ever redemption of points at Sephora. I was really pleased with this primer, I feel it does help reduce the appear of pores and it left my face feeling super smooth. This is one of my fav primers I've tried so far!

Compliments Premiere Quality Cotton Pads: See review here, my feelings have not changed.

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub: See review here, the only change is that I do not have a back up on hand as I'm giving a few other exfoliants a try and will let you know how those measure up against this one.

Smashbox Hyperlash Mascara in Blackout: I purchased this as part of the Smashbox Try It Kit (which is still available for purchase at Sephora and Shoppers Drugmart), I found this did a good job adding volume to my lashes without the clumps. This isn't the best mascara I've ever tried, and at $25 I'd rather stick with Lancôme Hypnose Star Mascara.


Compliments Nail Polish Remover: All my NOTDs have helped me finish this bottle of polish remover (purchased in April) off. This was quite effective at removing nail polish (even glitter), however my nails have weakened noticeably from the heavy use of this remover (since it's acetone-based). So I'm trying my hand out (haha) at a few other non-acetone removers.


L to R: Make Up For Ever HD High Definition Primer, Philosophy Hope in a Jar High-Performance Moisturizer for all skin types

Make Up For Ever HD High Definition Primer: I received this as a free sample with a Sephora order back in December 2012 (yikes, more proof I need to get going on these empties posts!) Because of the small size of the foil packet this isn't the most informed review. I felt this primer was more similar to a moisturizer than the other primers I've used (so it felt fantastic) and I do honestly think my foundation lasted longer with this underneath it, however I think I overall like the Too Faced product better. Will not repurchase.

Philosophy Hope in a Jar High-Performance Moisturizer for all skin types: I received this as part of a gift with purchase from this haul. Although I liked the way this moisturizer felt, the smell of the moisturizer (others have likened it to smelly socks) is a bit of a turn off for me. Will not repurchase.

What products did you use up in February?