Canadian Beauty

MAC Huggable Lipcolour Review

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Henna

This spring, your local MAC store has a collection of lipsticks called Huggable lipcolour. This is a new limited-edition formula of lipsticks that is a shiny and semi-sheer formula that really stick to the lips. Although MAC claims that they can last “up to 6 hours” I’ve found that the really aren’t more lasting than your average lipstick. In fact, because they’re so shiny and moisture-rich, I find that they are more prone to wear off on coffee mugs and spoons.

Despite average wear, they are above-average lipsticks and probably one of my favourite formulas to date. The colours are nicely pigmented and one coat of the lipstick has a more sheer layer of colour, while additional coats can provide and almost-opaque finish.

What I really love is that the formula is moisturizing and easy to wear – a must in this weather – and the shade selection is very nice. There’s also no frostiness or overwhelming shimmer which is amazing – in fact the shade selection is a definite bonus. I love it when companies come out with a limited shade selection but work on creating lots of shades that are flattering to a wide range of skin tones. The formula is quite thick and this lipstick doesn’t have as much slip as some moisturizing options, but this is definitely one of the better moisturizing lipsticks that’s come out on the market recently. I did find that it made my lips more moisturized over time – which meant that I kept on using it.

MAC also says that this gives the appearance of “sculpted lips” and I definitely agree with that. Does anyone remember Leighton Meester’s lips on Gossip Girl? Remember how they were always so shiny and perfectly defined with pigment? That is the sort of look this lipstick gives me, and I love it. I wear it without a lip liner and am happy reapplying it frequently throughout the day.

Colours are:

Touché: Light beige (Cream)
Fresh & Frisky: Soft neutral peach (Cream)
Cherry Glaze: Orange red (Cream)
Out For Passion: Soft warm rose (Cream)
Love Beam: Mid-tone warm pink (Cream)
What A Feeling!: Mid-tone cool pink (Cream)
Feeling Amorous?: Mid-tone fuchsia (Cream)
Red Necessity: Deep warm wine (Cream)
Commotion: Deep cool plum (Cream)
Rich Marrón: Mid-tone nude (Cream)
Rusty: Deep auburn (Cream)

Pick it up at MAC stores for $24.

Posted in Spring 2014 | Leave a comment

The Softest Skin Kit

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Henna

A kit that promises soft skin through exfoliation and hydration – count us in! That’s what you get in Consonant’s Softest Skin Kit. Their Skin Perfecting Body Scrub has salt and sugar grains so that you get a thorough exfoliation with two different sizes of exfoliators. The salt and sugar are in glycerine instead of a regular oil so it’s non-greasy but still sticks to the skin so that you can exfoliate.

Their body lotion is all-organic and unscented so that it doesn’t irritate sensitive skins and penetrates because you’ve just exfoliated! It absorbs quickly and leaves long-lasting softness on the skin.

Pick it up online or at Consonant retailers.

$52 for the scrub with 250ml of lotion, or $72 for the scrub with 500ml of lotion.

Posted in For the Body | Tagged Body Lotion, Consonant, Organic | Leave a comment

Tristan’s Spring Collection

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Henna

Wondering how you can introduce spring’s bright new colours into your wardrobe? Look no further than Tristan – and you may remember that I reviewed their new perfume last year, and after being reintroduced to the store back then, I’ve come to love their on-trend pieces that are sometimes even made in Canada.

Check out the perfect spring outfit I found there:

Bright print? Check. Boyfriend jean? Check. Affordable? Check!

The floral printed shirt is $55.30 online and the “Boyish Jean” is $77.00 (also online.

And if you want more ways to wear the boyfriend jean, check out the article I wrote last week in the Calgary Herald!

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged Tristan | Leave a comment

Handmade Soap

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Henna

Making soaps and cosmetics at home isn’t for me, but the chance to buy handmade soap that someone else has made? Yes, I can do that.

And so I’d like to introduce you to a soap company that I’ve come to love – Alberta Handmade Soap Company. All their soaps are made in small batches and by hand. The ingredients are pure, natural, and contain no petroleum, no phthalates, no detergents, and no formaldehyde.

I tried the Riverman ($5.99) and Fresh Mint ($6.99) and I have really loved them. They are gentle, they smell good and fresh, and I like that they’re not necessarily typically scented – Riverman is a blend of lavender, jasmine, oakmoss, musk and sandalwood, and Fresh Mint is a blend of essential oils that include spearmint and fresh mint. Both soaps are also slightly scrubby thanks to the inclusion of oatmeal (see what I mean about there being natural ingredients).

You can find Alberta Handmade soaps online.

Posted in For the Body | Tagged Alberta Handmade Soap Company, Soap | Leave a comment

OPI Gwen Stefani Collection

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Henna

After testing out a couple of streaky messy polishes this season, it was really nice to return to OPI’s failsafe formula used, in this case, in the Gwen Stefani collection. The set of six colours is super pigmented, bright, and a nice transition from fall/holiday to spring.

There are two glossy super pigmented cremes (my personal favourites): Hey Baby (bright fuschia pink) and I Sing in Color (eggplant brown), both colours that you can totally imagine Gwen Stefani wearing.

There’s also a glitter shade: In True Stefani Fashion (silver glitter).

And two shades in a brand new satin matte formula. A little matte, a little shiny. Love. Angel.Music.Baby is a satin gold, and 4 in the Morning is a satin black. Both so wearable.

The red is called Over and A-Gwen and is available in a set with Swarovski crystals and other fun shapes, along with nail glue, to make fun designs. That set is $18.95 and a must-have.

Here’s my “Over and A-Gwen” and “4 in the Morning” mani. The red is beautiful. Super-pigmented, glossy, almost like a jelly but not at all sheer, so just a gorg pop of colour. I used 4 in the Morning without a top coat (but with a base) and it lasted just as long as Over and A-Gwen.

Check out the collection in salons. $10.95 each.

Posted in Spring 2014 | Tagged Gwen Stefani, nail polish, OPI, Pictures of My Makeup, Swatch, Swatches | 2 Comments

Bobbi Brown Nude Glow Collection

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Henna

I’ve been a Bobbi fan for a long time. I follow her on Instagram, and watch interviews of her on YouTube when I can. She can do no wrong.

Nude Glow is just what I needed for spring and I think you’ll love it too.

This collection has three eye shadow palettes, 3 all-over Brightening Finishing Powders, Sheer lipsticks (a personal favourite), and some natural-looking nail polishes.

The colours are divided up into three colour families: Crystal (for the lightest skin tones), Nude (medium), and Bronze (deeper skin tones).

I got some of the shades in the bronze collection: the bronze eye palette and a couple of the darker shades of Sheer Lip Shimmer.

Here’s an image of my eye palette:

It features a Gold Bar Sparkle Shadow, Amber Shimmer Wash Shadow, Rich Bronze Eye Shadow (this is a metallic), and Toast Eye Shadow (a matte brownish peach). The Gold Bar is definitely too sparkly to use every day – it also has a lot of fall out so it’s best to apply it carefully. I like to apply it when I’m going out and even then I’ll gently pat it on with my finger only to the centre part of the eyelid. The other colours are perfect – Toast is a nice addition because you can blend it with any of the other colours to mute the shimmer a bit. Rich Bronze is perfect for the crease. The palette is $58 but I’m finding that I use it daily so it’s worth it.

You can check out the entire collection online. It is also available at Holt Renfrew and Sephora.

Posted in Spring 2014 | Tagged Bobbi Brown, Eyeshadow | 2 Comments

New Philosophy Loveswept Fragrance

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Henna

Philosophy comes out with its Loveswept perfume just in time for Valentine’s day so if you’re looking for something to gift, this would be timely.

A warm floral fruity blend, Loveswept opens with bergamot and then quickly moves on to notes of Jasmine, Lotus Blossom, and Passion Fruit. The drydown is musk, creamy amber and white cedarwood.

Loveswept is unlike any of Philosophy’s other fragrances. It doesn’t have that clean and fresh feeling that the other Philosophy fragrances had, and is more feminine because of the floral and musk notes. This scent is still very wearable – and Philosophy excels at creating wearable scents, but this one is not as skin-like as the others are. You definitely notice that it’s there, and its longevity ensures that it doesn’t just blend into the rest of your skin scents.

The collection includes

loveswept edt spray, 60ml, $55.00

loveswept body lotion, 480ml, $44.00

loveswept shower gel, 480ml, $31.00

loveswept rollerball, 10ml, $23.00

loveswept edt spray, 15ml, $20.00

The loveswept collection is available beginning january 2014 at Sephora, followed by Hudson’s Bay and Shoppers Drug Mart beginning april 2014.

Posted in Perfumes | Tagged Philosophy | Leave a comment

L’Occitane Cherry Blossom Petal-Soft Cream

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Henna

The Cherry Blossom collection comes to L’Occitane boutiques this spring, and in addition to an Eau de Parfum ($65), there is a new LE cream formulation called Petal-Soft ($28). Different from the Ultra Soft Cream we introduced you to earlier this year, this cream has more of a glycerine base and the formula is much lighter and absorbs into skin almost instantly.

The scent is fresh and floral with a touch of cherries coming through the freesia, lily of the valley, and cherry blossoms.

If you’re familiar with L’Occitane products, the texture of this cream is very similar to that of their limited edition hand creams that they come out with a few times a year. These creams still have shea butter in them, but not as much as some of the other creams sold by L’Occitane.

Check out the entire Cherry Blossom line at L’Occitane boutiques this spring.

Posted in For the Body | Tagged l'Occitane, Moisturizer | Leave a comment

Clinique Shades of Beige Collection

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Henna

Beige – we can’t get enough of it this spring, and if you’re still on the hunt for that perfect beige nail polish, Clinique has you covered.

16 Shades of Beige, the latest collection from Clinique, has an 8-shade eyeshadow palette ($40) and 8 limited edition shades of beige nail polish.

Needless to say, both are must-haves.

The shadow palette is called Neutral Territory and it features all shimmery shades. The majority of them are very light, but there are some darker options thrown in there. I especially like that they’ve thrown in a very dark brown to use as a liner, because it looks a little less harsh than a black liner.

If you’re looking at the polish and wondering what shade you would be, don’t worry: all of them look great on all skin-tones and I found that I liked the ones that were lighter or darker than my own skin because of the contrast that they provided.

This was my first time trying Clinique A Different Nail Enamel for Sensitive Skins, and I have to say, I am impressed. The colours I tried went on smoothly, without any streaking, and the polish sets itself to a high-shine finish. The wear-time is also decent and I got 3 days of wear with nary a chip when I used this polish without a base or top coat. That is almost unheard of!

The colours available are:Room Service, Peek a Boo I See You, Birthday Suit, Pajama Party, Tickle Me, Do Not Disturb, Chocolate on my Pillow, and Nighty-Night (in order above).

Here’s Chocolate on my Pillow. It is a chocolate brown with a touch of golden/bronze shimmer that’s quite subtle. Loved it even though it wasn’t a nude shade on me.

Pajama Party was closer to my skin tone.

Do Not Disturb was probably my favourite.

With so many amazing colours, like I said, you can’t go wrong with what you pick!

Check out the collection online and at counters. $14 each for the nail polishes, $38 for the eyeshadow palette.

Posted in Spring 2014 | Tagged Clinique, eye shadow, nail polish, Swatches | Leave a comment

10 Teas to Help You Burn Fat, Slim Down and Sleep Better

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Henna

These potent brews can help quell your stress, knock out your headaches and help you burn fat — no pharmaceuticals required

This is a TotalBeauty.com Health article

Green tea is definitely the popular kid of the brewed beverages world, but did you know that there are other teas that boast headache-curing, stress-reducing and fat-burning properties to help you get through whatever life throws at you? So skip your morning cup of Joe and reach for one of these instead.

see teas

Posted in More Than Beauty | Leave a comment