Should you use a top coat on your nail polish?
Short answer: yes!
A top coat can make your nail polish last longer and makes it look shiny and professionally applied. For best results, use a thin coat after allowing the coloured polish to dry completely. Reapply mid-week for a fresh looking manicure. You’ll see that the top coat also prevents your nail polish colour from fading so it always looks fresh and true.
I really love an OPI Top coat and I like OPI Nail Envy as a base coat.
Here are my favourite retinols, but what can I say, I never met a retinol or peel I didn’t like.
http://www.instagram.com/tv/B-K6y_VpzKl/
I mentioned Alumier, and Skinceuticals in the video which are both available at aesthetician or dermatologists’ office. I also loved the Reversa retinol because it has hyaluronic acid in it which is amazing for your skin. Hydrating but also with retinol. I’d love to try some vitamin C and retinol products that are available out there.
I’ve tried a bunch of retinols over the past few years, and here are the reviews:
A313. This is a French retinol that is over-the-counter. Don’t be fooled by the pomade texture. It is pretty strong. You can get it on Amazon!
Paula’s Choice 1% Retinol Booster. This is a retinol that they’re saying you can mix into other creams, but why take the chance and lessen its efficacy? I use it on its own.
The Ordinary Retinol in Squalene. I loved using this but because of the large molecules of oil, it’ll mostly sit on top of your skin instead of sinking in. So not my top pick but great for people with dry skin.
Alumier MD 1% Retinol Resurfacing Serum. Kind of a powdery silicone finish and dry to the touch but it works. Comes in different percentages.
Skinceuticals Retinol. Also comes in different percentages and also a bit of a powdery finish. Great formula though. This is the one that got me on the retinol bandwagon.
Differin Gel. Prescription only in Canada but it’s a great formula without any bells or whistles. I have the 0.1% but it also comes in a 0.3%. Way stronger than over-the-counter formulas.
Reversa Retin[A]List 0.3 Retinol Cream. Loved this formula because it has hyaluronic acid in it. This is probably my favourite formula but I wish it was stronger.
Pixi Collagen and Retinol Serum. Not strong at all. If it doesn’t say the percentage on the bottle then it’s probably not that strong.
Beautycounter Countertime Collection. Uses Bakuchiol which is an alternative that can help lessen wrinkles. It’s not like retinol but has some of the same effects. But so do lots of other things. *shrugs*. These products are very nice. But they’re not retinol. But I did like them.
Should you go get a retinol prescription or just buy something over-the-counter? It depends. Watch this video and I explain it all…Thoughts, comments? Leave them below!
http://www.instagram.com/tv/B-ITNe8JT4w/
Some of you might be cooking more than usual, and truth be told, I don’t really consult cookbooks anymore because it seems like a lot of recipes are on the Internet, but I do like these that I have and I’ve used the Cookie on the most. Here are my cookbook reviews in one place.
Giada at Home. Casual Italian cooking. Good ideas for pasta, if you’re bored of the same old, same old.
Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics. Also great for reinventing classics.
Martha Stewart Cookies. There is a blondie recipe in here which is to die for. My all time favourite cookie recipe is the NYT Cookie recipe and it’s not in here. Google it.
Martha Stewart New Classics. It’s a tome. It’s an epic. Great mac and cheese, if you don’t have a recipe already. Perfect for a new cook.
The Chocolate collection came out in 2008, and since we’re at home right now I thought it was a good time for me to revisit some of my older makeup.
Below is the shimmer compact, and though it’s beautiful in the picture, in person it has a fine layer of gold dust on the surface that looks ever so pretty.
Here’s an eyeshadow quad: The gold swirls are just on the surface and once you start using the eyeshadow they’re blended into it and don’t show anymore.
Hope everyone is staying safe and staying inside!
I haven’t had a ton of time to read in recent months, but I finally go through Lessons of a Lipstick Queen by Poppy King.
Overall, fascinating book for the details that it gives you about Poppy herself and how she put her lipstick line together so many years ago. I wasn’t familiar with her line “back in the day” (in the 1990’s) but Poppy became known for her matte lipsticks which were introduced in a time when mattes weren’t anywhere to be found.
Read this book if you’re interested in finding out how she put things together – I found the entrepreneurial aspects of it less interesting.
Champaca isn’t a flower that I had heard of, or even smelled before, so Tom Ford’s Champaca Absolute wasn’t on my radar. But I had time to kill at Holt Renfrew one day and ended up at the Tom Ford Counter smelling all the perfumes. And I wasn’t feeling any of them, but then the sales associate, who knew her stuff, offered me Champaca Absolute. You’re going to love it, she said.
And so I got this scent for my 30th birthday – so I’ve had it for a while, but haven’t ever reviewed it.
Champaca Absolute is unlike anything I’ve smelled before. Champaca is part of the magnolia family, and this scent is very magnolia forward. Top notes are: bergamot, cognac, greenwood, but I don’t really smell any of that. Maybe the warmth of the cognac, but there isn’t much bergamot in the opening which is a relief.
The middles notes are orchid, violet, champaca and jasmine, and really it’s a mix of champaca and cognac that you smell for the first hour or so. The drydown is vanilla, amber, sandalwood, and marron glace. The vanilla and amber give a bit of sweetness to the floral notes in the middle, and the sandalwood is super subtle.
The scent is fresh, floral, and powdery all at the same time. It smells unlike anything else I own, and have ever smelled, and I have a lot of perfume. There’s tons of lasting powder and one spray gives me waves of scent all day.
Tom Ford perfumes are expensive – but unique and this one is totally worth it.
$290 for 50mL.
Tried this Boscia mask over Christmas and finally finished it so I figured it’s time for a review. First off all, it’s on sale at Sephora right now, so it’s $35 instead of the usual $50.
First of all, this mask is beautiful to look at. It is swirled black and white charcoal, and it looks pretty in the jar and when you open it up. How’d they do that?
The two colours obviously mix together when you apply the mask on your face, and it has a creamy consistency that’s easy to apply. The charcoal is great for absorbing excess oil and impurities, and leaves your skin squeaky clean.
I also really loved that this mask smells so good. It smells like perfume in a way that I can’t describe. Kind of fresh and woody all in one.
I loved using this mask and am really loving Boscia products!
If you’ve been wondering how to take care of your roots at home, check out this video. I used the Kevin Murphy Retouch.Me spray in black. It’s pretty good but it leaves your hair stiff and you don’t feel like you can run your hands through your hair. My stylist reached out to me after I posted this video and told me that a powder is probably better if I don’t want the stiffness, so that’s what I’ll get next. this is pretty good in a pinch though.
http://www.instagram.com/tv/B-SwlZzpK0g/
