Wild Blueberry Vanilla from Upper Canada Soap

Wild Blueberry VanillaI love fruit-scented products over the summer, and Upper Canada Soap Company’s new Wild Blueberry Vanilla is hitting all the high notes for me this summer.

Made with blueberry extract and a slight vanilla base, this scents their bath and body products such as body butter, hand and body wash, body lotion, and hand cream.  The products are paraben free, mineral oil free, phthalate free – but are still super hydrating and gentle on skin.

The wild blueberry scent smells like actual blueberries (or maybe like blueberry candy) and is a refreshing change from the coconut and lemon scents I usually stick to in the summer.

Pick them up online, or at Indigo, Well.ca, Home Outfitters, and Sears.

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Poolside Essentials for Your Hair

I went through a phase not too long ago where I went swimming almost everyday, which is super ironic because I absolutely hated swimming growing up.

Turns out that my hating the activity had more to do with my own body issues than with anything else, so once those were taken care of, it turns out that swimming wasn’t all that bad!

Anyway, during that time I learned a thing or two about what to pack before venturing out on a trip to the pool.  Of course you’re going to take a shower gel and moisturizer to combat the chlorine smell and feel from the pool water, but I learned the hard way that there’s no way I can skip washing my hair afterwards and I can’t be cheap about a shampoo.

After swimming you have to use a super gentle and moisturizing shampoo and conditioner to combat the time spent in the harsh environment of the pool.  One way to do it is to apply lots of coconut oil in your hair so that the water doesn’t even have a chance to penetrate your hair.

I also prefer using a cleansing conditioner instead of a regular shampoo.  I find that it’s much more gentle and because it’s like a shampoo and conditioner in one you save time in the shower too.  I’m partial to Pantene’s Damage Repair Cleansing Conditioner.  It’s super gentle and hydrating and the huge bottle might be unwieldy to put in a gym bag, but it lasts a long time and you can completely slather your hair with it.

Pool shampoosThe other shampoo you need is Live Clean’s Apple Cider Clarifying Shampoo.  This stuff is the opposite of hydrating but it will absolutely take all the build-up your hair might have acquired over the summer and will leave it super clean and shiny.  I wouldn’t use this more than once a week, and it’s an essential if you’re using the above cleansing conditioner because it’ll leave everything squeaky clean whereas the conditioner wouldn’t have.

Pick both up at drugstores – $9.99 for the Pantene Cleansing Conditioner and $6.99 for the Live Clean Shampoo.

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Currently Using: Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara

Too Faced Better Than Sex mascaraI first got a tube of this mascara back in March, and although I loved it, my issue was that it seemed to smear on me.

Despite the fact that it wasn’t perfect, I kept seeing amazing reviews of it on social media, so I was intrigued to try it again.

Fast forward to this month, while the weather has been hot, slightly humid, and I spend most of the day sweating, it seems that my brand new tube of this mascara has been holding up just fine, despite my applying sunscreen during the day!

I love the waxy, slightly dry formula, and the brush makes it so easy to apply mascara just on the lashes and not my eyelid.

The final finish is intensely black and volumized lush lashes.

$30 at Sephora.

Posted in Search for the Perfect Mascara | Tagged | 1 Comment

MAC The Matte Lip

MAC The Matte LipMAC’s Retromatte finish is my favourite kind of lipstick.  It’s a super dry finish, even more dry than the regular matte, that almost stains your lips and doesn’t move at all.

With the Matte Lip collection MAC has released a set of new shades of lipstick.  The new shades are:

Styled in Sepia dirty cement beige

Nouvelle Vogue soft blue pink

Pander Me soft peachy mocha

Damn Glamorous bright pink red

Le Vie En Rouge bright orange coral

Fashion Revival deep raspberry

Heroine vibrant violet

Living Legend deep plum

MAC fans will recognize Heroine as a re-release, and all the colours are limited edition so if there’s one you really like, hold on to it!

The collection also includes a set of lip liners and blushes as part of the collection.

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Eos Shaving Cream Brightens Your Skin

Eos Shave CreamEos shaving cream is totally different from everything else out there on the market.  Instead of having a soap-based formula, the Eos formula is an actual cream which moisturizes your skin even once you’re out of the shower.

The new formula has a blend of Vitamin B3, Grape Seed Extract and Green Tea in the moisturizing formula which helps brighten skin even once you’re out of the shower.

Pick it up in three scents: Vanilla, Pomegranate Raspberry, and Lavender Jasmine.

$5.69 at Shoppers Drug Mart, Wal-Mart, Loblaws, Rexall, and London Drugs.

 

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OPI Comes To The Bay

OPI The BayIt’s been a while since I shopped for beauty products at Hudson’s Bay (I seem to be shopping online more and more these days), but the latest is that OPI Nail Polish will now be available at The Bay.  The Nail Lacquer and Nail Care collection is already available at The Bay’s Flagship store on Queen Street in Toronto, but 15 more stores across the country will be carrying OPI as well.

The Bay will carry the limited-edition color collections, the Infinite Shine Gel Effects Lacquer System and 120 core products.

Starting August all the products will also be available online (yay) via the Bay’s website (which… doesn’t always work but yay anyway).

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New L’Oreal True Match Lumi Liquid Glow Illuminator

illuminating primerContouring can look a little overdone in the summer, but you can still enhance your best features by highlighting and that makes L’Oreal’s new illuminating primer perfect for this time of year.

Super shimmery and in an alcohol-based cream, this primer is best used sparingly before or after applying foundation.  Just tap it on to cheek bones and brow bones, and then apply your foundation on top to get a glow that looks totally natural.

Or, for even easier use, mix some into your foundation and then apply all over your face to get skin that looks like it’s glowing.

The primer is available in three shades: Golden, Rose, and Ice and will be on counters this July for $16.99.

Posted in Summer 2015 | Tagged | 1 Comment

I’m Finally On Board: Dior Addict Fluid Stick

Dior Addict Fluid Stick ciel roseI don’t know how it happens but when there’s a new innovation in beauty, it seems that all the brands are able to jump on board at the same time, even if they’re not owned by the same parent company.  Last year, the innovation was lip glosses that go on feeling like water and then stay on like your typical sticky lip glosses.  Dior Addict Fluid Stick was one, YSL’s Glossy Stain was the media favourite, and Lancome’s Lip Lover was the slightly more affordable and accessible version.

I never wrote about any of them because I didn’t get what the fuss was.  Yes, the glosses feel like water going on but at the end, you’re still left with something that’s inherently sticky on your lips, and the staining that YSL offered didn’t work for me because of the glossy sticky component.

But this summer, Dior has come out with the most perfect colour: 449 Ciel Rose is the most natural rosy lip colour that exists.  Yes, it goes on feeling like water and ends up being only slightly moisturizing, but then the gloss part slowly wears away until this just looks like your lips – and yes, it leaves a stain behind that’s quite pretty and in the most perfect colour.

I’m sold and this lipgloss/lipstain hybrid comes with me wherever I go.

I wouldn’t recommend getting it in a bright colour because it can look messy, but if you’re able to find a “your-lips-but-better” colour that works for you, then this is a winner and easy to wear.

Ciel Rose is a limited edition colour, so pick it up this summer if it appeals to you.

Pick it up at Dior counters or Sephora for $35.

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New Marc Jacbobs Mod Noir

marc jacobs mod noirWith a bottle that’s a throw-back to the black and white styles of the ’60’s Marc Jacobs Mod Noir is the newest scent from the hugely successful fragrance brand.

Those of you who are familiar with Marc Jacobs Daisy (I wore it non-stop 7 or 8 years ago when it first came out!) will recognize something similar in this scent.

This scent is a floral musky blend just like that one, with top notes of clementine and yuzu, middles notes of gardenia, and a creamy musky base.

The scent is easy to wear and different from most florals out there – Daisy was fresh and new when it came out, and years later, it seems like Mod Noir is still the only other scent out there like it!

Pick it up at Sephora and Sephora.com!

Posted in Perfumes | Tagged | 4 Comments

Bad (and Confusing) News from Sephora

So the latest is that Sephora will now be opening a warehouse in Canada so that they can ship products from here.  Theoretically this is good: it means that if you order something online, you should be getting it quicker and it means that there’s less impact on the environment as well.

However, Sephora is also changing their return policy: returns will now need to be received within 30 days of purchase instead of the 60 days that they allowed us before.

That’s not even the bad news.  The bad news is that Sephora will not be shipping certain products because they don’t comply with Canadian packaging laws.  These include the following brands:

  • Bobbi Brown (select products)
  • Bvlgari
  • CHANEL
  • Clarisonic
  • Clinique
  • Donna Karan
  • Giorgio Armani
  • Illamasqua (select products)
  • Lancôme (select products)
  • Laura Mercier (select products)
  • LAVANILA
  • L’Occitane
  • Michael Kors
  • Murad
  • Narciso Rodriguez
  • Perricone MD (DMAE products only)
  • Ralph Lauren
  • Shiseido (select products)
  • Silk’N

So the confusing part is that you’ll notice brands on the list that are readily available here – Giorgio Armani, Chanel, and Clarisonic, just to name a few, so why won’t Sephora be selling them?  I don’t have an answer for you but I’m wondering what Sephora will be putting on their shelves if these products aren’t there.

I’m guessing that where it says “select products” it probably has to do with labelling sunscreen ingredients – our regulating body was different rules than those in the U.S. and to get your product approved with sunscreen takes much more time and effort.

I’ve also noticed that certain products from the brands above are listed as being “out of stock” on the Canadian website – so if you want to stock up by ordering online, it seems like it’s too late.  Something that I just ordered last week is not available anymore, unless I order it in the U.S.!

Lets see how this shakes down, but in the meanwhile, stock up on what you need if you’d rather buy it at Sephora!

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