Some Jo Malones I have and love. Zara has a whole collection designed by Jo Malone so I got my originals out and took a pic. What do you think? Are you a fan? Are you shopping at Zara?
Bobbi Brown Hot Nudes Palette
Flashback Friday: this Bobbi Brown palette came out in 2015 and these are still some of the most silky shadows around. They are so blendable and beautiful to wear. My fav is the silver on top of the dark brown.
Book Review: In The Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
After reading the latest New York Times Bestseller’s and other books that my friends had recommended, it was nice to come to something that was well-written. As much as I want to lose myself in a good story, one thing that is really important to me is good prose, and Michael Ondaatje delivers.
In The Skin of a Lion is a love story and takes place in Toronto during the earlier part of the 20th century. It was interesting to me because the writer rediscovers places that I am very familiar with, and I found myself wondering what restaurants and landmarks he was really talking about! As all good books do, this one begins and ends in medias res and so you’re left wondering about the characters and where they finally end up. It’s a sign of a good book (or movie, even) when you can’t put the story out of your head and keep thinking about it for a few days.
Pick this book up. It will show you why writing is an art, and what separates the good writers from the bad.
5 Fragrances Perfect for Gifting
Valentine’s Day is coming up, so this is an apropos video for buying a scent that’s nice but hopefully won’t offend. Share this with whoever’s getting you a present, or save it to come back to!
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKuhPgtB5hK/?igshid=85x2r7fm4oyk
Perfumes mentioned:
@GucciBeauty Memoire d’une Odeur
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Eau Intense
@Prada Infusion de Vetiver
@OfficialByredo Blanche
@MaisonMargielaFragrances Music Festival
Posted in Perfumes
Tagged Byredo, Dolce and Gabbana, Fragrances, Gifting, Gucci, IGTV, Instagram, Maison Margiela, Margiela, Niche Fragrance, Niche Perfume, Perfume, Prada, reviews, Valentine's Day, Video
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Beautiful Makeup from Dior, Charlotte Tilbury, Bare Minerals, Anastasia Beverly Hills
Here’s some new makeup that I’ve been using. The only thing that I didn’t like was the Charlotte Tilbury compact because the powders are so tightly packed, but it was limited-edition anyway. I’ve never had any issue with Dior or other high-end brands, so it’s kind of disappointing that a brand that bills itself as being so luxe is not really all that it’s cut out to be.
Posted in Make-Up
Tagged Anastasia Beverly Hills, Bare Minerals, Charlotte tilbury, Dior
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Aveeno Restorative Skin Therapy Collection
If you have eczema, you know how difficult it can be to treat. Even when it goes away, it can come back at any time which is the worst! We’ve got eczema in our family too, and so there’s a constant rotation of what we are using. This spring, we added the Aveeno Restorative collection to our skincare routine, and I was obsessed with the balm.
The whole collection has colloidal oatmeal in it which has been proven to soothe dry and itchy skin. The Itch Relief balm also has 0.5% Pramoxine HCl which is supposed to numb the skin just a tad so that it’s not so itchy.
I found that it made a difference on my skin but really bad spots were still itchy. The balm is nice and thick, super rich, but absorbs into your skin easily. I loved using it and it was done in a month because I went through it so quickly.
I do like the entire collection – even the lotion in the pump bottle has made a huge difference on my dry hands and is so easy to use.
You can get the entire collection online and in stores. I will say that the Itch Relief balm sells out so quickly so the best thing to do is to subscribe for Amazon notifications so that you can snag it when it’s in.
Nars Stud and Etrusque
2 of my favourite eyeshadows along with my favorite eyeshadow primer. If you can’t get your eyeshadow to stay on, then try a primer for grip.
This NYX Eyeshadow primer really grips eyeshadow once it dries down but I’m sad to say that it also changed the eyeshadow shade a bit.
Nars eyeshadows in Etrusque and Stud.
Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipsticks Discontinued
Beauty moves so fast, and if you shop at Sephora a lot you might have noticed that fav Canadian lipstick brand Bite Beauty is rebranding as vegan and so earlier this year they got rid of all their products and have a whole bunch of new ones.
Amuse Bouche was a popular lipstick – I feel like I saw it around a lot – and I kind of loved it because it tasted so good.
That being said, they’re not longer around but I dug out what I had, and here’s a picture. Does vegan beauty matter to you?
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Nail Swatch: MAC Bad Fairy from Venomous Villains
Flash back to this beautiful colour from MAC… I wish I still had it.
Bad Fairy is definitely my favourite from all the polishes that came out in the Venomous Villains collection. It’s an orangy red with pink and gold duo shimmer and is so pretty! Now that you’ve seen them all, which one is your favourite from the bunch?
L’Artisan Parfumeur Coeur de Vetiver Sacre
L’Artisan Parfumer’s Coeur de Vetiver Sacre, and is done by Carine Vinchon who also did their L’Eau de Jatamansi, which was a nice fresh salty blend that I loved but it just didn’t last on my skin.
Coeur de Vetiver Sacre (which means “The Sacred Heart of Vetiver”) is quite different from that scent, and takes the idea of the smell of Vetiver as it’s heart and base, and builds the scent around it. Thus, the warm woodiness of the vetiver grass is preserved and at the same time heightened by the other notes added to the scent.
The opening of the scent is cool and quite green, and then middles notes of bergamot and black tea come through. You can see how the vetiver is being enhanced. The bergamot provides a sparkling freshness while the black tea has a smoky woodiness to it. There is a pepper and ginger note, and then a drydown of musk, incense, and vanilla – both cool instead of being overly warm. The scent is bright and fresh yet so woody at the same time.
This is a perfect fall scent. It has a crispness to it, which autumn does because of the approaching cool weather. It also has a woody smoky aspect that reminds you of logs burning in the fire, and then a spicy vanilla aspect that reminds one of some kind of baking.
All L’Artisan perfumes are unisex, but of course, you would notice that some lean more feminine than masculine, and vice versa. Coeur de Vetiver Sacre seems to be a bit more masculine, perhaps because vetiver scents usually are, and the bergamot opening definitely doesn’t help. However, I’ve always been a fan of their more masculine scents, and I loved this one so much that I don’t want to give it to any of my male friends. Part of the reason is probably that they won’t appreciate it as much as I do, and if I give it to them, then I wouldn’t get to smell this as much, and lately, I have been spritzing it on everything. This is an EDT, but wears like an Eau de Parfum – the scent is strong and has fantastic lasting power.