A Great Waterproof Eye Pencil

Some women like liquid liner for a nice clean look, and some like a rich black liner that’s smudgeable.  If you belong to the latter group, you should check out Benefit’s BADgal Liner.  You can smudge it if you move quickly but if you just apply it as is, you can get a clean line that lasts the whole day.

Unlike most waterproof liners, the colour of it is a nice rich black that stays black for the whole day!  Also available in brown, blue, and purple, but I’m loving the nice rich black.

This is available everywhere Benefit products are sold, including Sephora and Shoppers Drug Mart.

$27.

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Instagram Worthy

Do you guys want to follow me on Instagram?  My name on there is CanadianBeautydotcom and I thought it would be personal for a while, and then just for sharing pictures of my weekends, but more and more I’ve been putting my favourite beauty finds on there and I love it.

Here are some things that I’ve loved recently.

Beautycounter’s Brightening and Vitamin C Oil.  I actually turned to this when I was going through a time when I had super dry skin, and this helped keep it hydrated and made it look brighter.  It’s awesome.

Oils these days don’t make your skin greasy.  Most of the time they absorb quickly and have ingredients like vitamin C, or even retinol, to help improve skin while making it feel better.

I’m a huge fan of Avene’s High Protection Mineral Sunscreens.  They come in a formula for the face and one for the body.   These sunscreens are actually mineral sunscreens but they go on completely clear!  Even on more tan skin! I love them.

Also, Neostrata sent me their Acne Clear system, with their new Acne Clear lotion that they added to the line.  All the products have 2% Salicylic Acid in them to help keep pores clear, but the toner also has 8% Glycolic Acid in it, which really helps exfoliate the skin.

Also: my favourite scrub by LoveFresh.  This smells like lattes, and the ingredients include Shea Butter, Coconut Butter, and coffee grounds, with sugar.  I love this because it doesn’t get gunky on your skin and just leaves it so smooth.

Finally, I tried some natural bug spray from Rocky Mountain Soap Company and I think it worked well.  Smelled kind of like a citronella candle.

Are any of these familiar to you guys?  I would love to hear from you!

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The Cutest Packaging from Tatcha

Guys, just take a look at this adorable packaging from Tatcha.  The one with the flower on top is the eye cream, and the other bottle is the Kissu lip mask, and they are both so beautiful.

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The Splash Series from Marc Jacobs

This is from the archives – Marc Jacobs cucumber used to be a favourite of mine but now… I actually don’t know where I put it.

We Love Marc Jacobs because he does the things that everyone does but he manages to do them differently.  While we patiently wait for him to pull a Tom Ford and come out with an edgy makeup collection, we enjoy each and every one of his fragrances.

If you didn’t get a chance last time around, this year you must check out the series of Marc Jacobs Summer Splash eaus.  They only come out once a year and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

The scents are always unisex and are eau de toilettes which means they’re so light that you can douse yourself in them without worrying about offending anyone.

The year, the “flavours” are Cucumber, Rain (which was a best-seller), and Lemon.  Though the initial scent smells pretty much exactly as you would expect, the drydown for each of these is more complex so make sure that you give them a try.  My favourite is Cucumber because it is the freshest, and if you were getting something for a man-friend, I would get Rain which I think is masculine without being boring.

Lemon, of course, is the most surprising.  I guess I was expecting it to smell like Windex or something else lemony, but this perfume reminds me of a lemon tree!  It’s absolutely luminous and light and like no other perfume out there.  The scent is an instant pick-me-up like nothing else.

The Splash series comes in huge 300 ml bottle and will cost $80 Canadian.  They used to be in Sephora and Holt Renfrew stores, but unfortunately they are no longer and we will have to wait for Marc Jacobs to bring them back.

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A Book For the Cookie Lover

I’ve had this book for over 10 years and it’s still a favourite.

Life’s not fair; so many cookie recipes and not enough time! If you’re a cookie-lover like me, you have to pick up Martha Stewart Cookies. It’s a book chock full of all different kinds of cookies (and some blondie/brownie recipes as well) and the best part is that there’s a picture of almost every recipe in the book! You know exactly what you’re cookie should look like when they’re done, and you can get an idea of what kind of cookie you’re making.

Love this cookbook!

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Bumble and Bumble Invisible Oil Dry Oil Finishing Spray

I’m really loving Bumble and Bumble finishing sprays because they are some of the lightest sprays that I have ever used, and this dry oil finishing spray is no exception. It is supremely light, so don’t be wary of the word “oil” in the name.

This is an amazing all-over shine spray to use after you’re done styling your hair. It adds a lovely glossy but hydrating layer of shine. The star ingredients are: grape seed oil and safflower seed oil.

Get it in salons, Sephora, or Nordstrom.

$45.

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Giorgio Armani Foundation and Blender Brush for Flawless Skin

I had heard so much about Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation and now I finally own it.

Is it as good as everyone says it is?  Pretty much.  Though the foundation carries a hefty price tag, it’s worth it because if you find the perfect color match, you can have medium coverage that looks absolutely natural.  That’s the greatest thing about a good foundation – it should look like your real skin.  Another plus?  The fact that it lasts the whole entire day without coming off even a little.  Trust me, I have very oily skin and I found that I hardly even had any oil show through with this foundation.  My makeup always looks fresh and though the coverage is dewy, it’s still a finish I can live with.

Also get the blender brush from Armani.  It’s used to apply the foundation and is unlike anything I’ve ever used before.  Although it is made of real hair, the brush doesn’t absorb any of the foundation and seems to look fresh no matter what! Pretty amazing stuff and there’s nothing else like it on the market.

If you haven’t tried this foundation, take the plunge. You will not be disappointed.

$80 for the foundation, $84 for the brush.

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The Story of L’Occitane and the Almond Tree

By Kyle Gordon

What can I say? I’m a sucker for beautiful packaging, hence my love affair with everything L’Occitane en Provence. Even the name conjures images of the French countryside and my beloved Toile de Jouy (a beautiful fabric usually depicting a pastoral scene).

When this Mist Concentrate was brought to my attention I knew I had to share. I just love the idea of a body moisturizer in a mist. It’s so easy to transport (perfect for travel or to throw in your gym bag) and it’s loaded with almond proteins and silicium (to smooth and firm) and almond oil and milk (for softer and more supple skin).

Why Almond?
The almond tree is a strong symbol of the Provencal landscape (similar to the olive tree). For the last six years an initiative aimed at reviving the cultivation of almond trees (which were threatened since the 1930s) has been underway. L’Occitane played an active role in this project. It’s just one more reason to fall in love with the Almond bodycare range.

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Revlon Mega Multiplier Mascara

Mascara was the first bit of makeup I started using, way back when. It was easy to use and looked relatively natural, when applied with a light hand, and I didn’t get in trouble for using it.

So, great makeup has always meant great lashes, for me, but I struggle to find a mascara that doesn’t smudge. Revlon’s new Mega Multiplier Mascara is the “tubing” kind. It coats the lashes with a special polymer formula that’s water and oil resistant. This means that it won’t smudge or flake but it’ll need water and gentle rubbing with fingertips to come off in tubes.

The brush applies a lot and has a tapered wand that gets even the tiniest lashes close to the inside of the eye. It gets the bottom lashes too, which is perfect.

Pick it up at drugstores and mass merchandisers.

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New Marc Jacobs Velvet Primer Video

Here’s the Marc Jacobs Velvet Primer in action, with their Velvet Noir Mascara.  If you like long fluffy lashes, these two together are fire.  Let me know what you think of this video.  And what other mascaras I should try!

http://www.instagram.com/tv/BuRfwi7BqU_/

As I say in the video, I normally find this mascara to be so smudgy, but when I used it with the primer, I didn’t actually experience any smudging so maybe I’ll be sticking with this duo!

You can find the primer at Sephora.  $35.

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