Canadian Beauty

Jo Malone Orange Blossom Cologne

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Henna

If you’re unsure of where to find your next favourite fragrance, head to the Jo Malone counter at Holt Renfrew. They do fragrance blending, and their colognes are so versatile that you’re sure to find something that will really work for you.

My latest find is their Orange Blossom cologne which is not new, and is actually a Jo Malone stand by and favourite. It is one that they frequently recommend you use for blending, because it’s light and fresh yet slightly fruity. Adding a spritz of this fragrance to whatever you’re wearing will make it fresher and make the top notes stand out a little bit more.

Because this is one of the original Jo Malone creations, the scent is quite transparent and basic. Top notes of orange zest and fruity orange juice permeate the fragrance, and I found that they lasted right down to the drydown. The orange note isn’t overly sweet, so when I first smelled it, it made my mouth water for some fresh orange juice.

Get this at your local Jo Malone counter. In Canada, Jo Malone is exclusive to Holt Renfrew. The Orange Blossom cologne mixes well with many perfumes so it’s a good standby to have on your fragrance shelf.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged Jo Malone | 2 Comments

Nars Summer 2011 – Laguna Collection

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Henna

The Laguna Collection is not an official Nars Summer 2011 collection – I’ll post about that later, but this collection is absolutely perfect for the summer!

It takes off on the cult favourite Laguna bronzer and offers it in new incarnations.

The newest product is the Laguna Body Illuminator ($52). This is a golden bronze cream that can be used on the face or the body. It’s sheer and lightweight and in a gel formulation so I do believe that it doesn’t come off until you rub it off vigorously. It would be wonderful on the arms and legs this summer. A big bottle should last through the entire summer!

The Laguna bronzer is also available in a multiple now ($46). Honestly, I love this cream to powder formula and if I were going on vacation, I’d take this with me because it’s small enough to toss into a makeup bag and you can rub it on all over your body.

Finally, there’s the Orgasm, Albatross, Laguna Blush/Bronzer trio ($58). This is everything you need for your cheeks in one awesome kit.

All the products are LE and can be found at The Bay, Holt Renfrew, Sephora, and Murale locations.

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Dior Summer 2011 Collection – Electric Tropics

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Henna

I have a thing for really bright colour in the summer, and Dior’s Electric Tropics is perfect for updating that look. The collection features eyeshadows in neutral colours and lippies in bright oranges and pinks.

There’s also a powder called their Healthy Glow Powder ($48). I have it in Sunset and it’s the perfect mix of coral and brown so that you get a bright tan look. I use this like a bronzer or a blush. It does not work well all over the face. The powder is a nice mix of matte and shimmery tones as well as a hint of colour so that you can use the powder as a blush.

The powder also comes in a version with pink tones and is called Aurora. So pretty and probably one of the nicest and most versatile powders to come out this year.

Also part of the collection is a 5-Colour shadow pan in Rosey Nude and Rosey Tan. A picture of the tan set below. ($60)

Also part of the collection are some lovely bright polishes. These are being sold with a shiny top coat so that your colour looks juicy. I have yet to try it out but expect a swatch soon! ($29)

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Girl’s Night Out at Salon Fli

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Henna

I recently got a blow out for a special event, and I got the best compliment ever.

“Whoever did your colour did an amazing job. It looks completely natural and blends into your regular hair colour.”

This was after I had gotten my hair highlighted at Salon Fli.

This is probably the biggest compliment that I can pass on to Salon Fli. Their peers in the industry think that they do an amazing job.

And now let me tell you about the night that I got my hair done at Salon Fli here in Calgary. The salon teamed up with Schwarzkopf to give me and my friends a Girl’s Night Out.

All I can say is that Salon Fli is now my new BFF.

I have never been treated so well at a salon, and if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I’ve been to some fancy schmancy places in Toronto and New York. Salon Fli, really took care of us. They listened to us and made suggestions accordingly. They gave us what we were looking for, and didn’t use us as guinea pigs to demonstrate the latest look. Moreover, they were fun and friendly and shared their professional tips so that we could look good at home too!

Needless to say, we walked out of there feeling like superstars – better yet, we looked like celebrities too! The looks we got were glam but not over the top.

Though each and every hair stylist was awesome, I should let you know that they also have an amazing makeup artist on staff. Just by adding some more eyeliner and a sheer coral lipstick, she made me look like Kim Kardashian, and even sent me out the door with a lipgloss mini so that I could touch up my makeup on the go. It was awesome.

At the salon, I had my hair done with Schwarzkopf’s Essencity colour, which has a natural base, yet can be used to lighten colour or brighten it as well. There’s a huge range of colours available – bright reds, light blonds, and of course nice rich browns. The colour takes just 10 minutes to work on the hair shaft, which means that if you’re just doing a basic colour, you can be done colouring your hair in about 30 minutes. Essencity also makes the toner that they use on highlights, and I’ve already covered the shampoo and conditioner that they make and that I took home that day.

I didn’t have any fading of the colour, which just showed me that it was really salon quality despite the mere 10 minutes it took to set.

Schwarzkopf and Salon Fli really impressed me. It was the first time I had tried either, and it won’t be the last. Schwarzkopf has a lovely violet black that I want to try on my hair next, so you may just be hearing about that in the coming months!

Have you tried Essencity or have any Schwarzkopf stories to share? If so, I would love to hear about them in the comments.

Salon Fli is located in downtown Calgary. The contact info is:

1220 8 Street Southwest
Calgary, AB T2R 1A9
(403) 410-7400

Tell them I sent you!

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged Salon Fli, Schwarzkopf | 1 Comment

L’Artisan Parfumeur Mure et Musc Extreme

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Henna

L’Artisan Parfumeur is a line of scents that is known for their simplistic yet complex perfumes, that are the epitome of quality. Though they have all kinds of scents, what I especially love from their lines are the scents that are centered around a single note.

Mure et Musc eau de toilette is one of these, and of course, it is focused on enhancing the scent of musk.

The original scent was launched in 1978, and has since had a few variations, notably Mure et Musc Extreme eau de parfum. The original scent became popular because it enhanced the musk note with a blend of berries – this is still unusual but the fruity woodiness of berries really does enhance the musk and gives it something special.

I used to be a fan of Kiehl’s Original Musk back in the day, but I got sick of it because it was just too much musk all the time. Mure et Musc is more wearable and yet still has that distinctly musky scent. It’s got a citrus opening, and a nice woody drydown. The extreme version makes the berry notes (blackberry especially) more pungent without making the entire fragrance a gourmand.

If you’re like me, you might also find that musk fragrances can be overly strong, and I think that with the blend of berry and citrus notes, the musk in this is quite toned down and though it is there throughout the scent, the musk isn’t so strong that it will offend people around you. This is a wearable musk and totally subtle in the way that grown up scents should be.

The latest from the brand is that they are offering Mure et Musc in other formulas – body cream, shower gel, body oil are just some of the offerings and you can check them all out on the website. Surprisingly, I really like the shower gel which I tried a tiny sample of. I love that it perfumed the air, but I didn’t necessarily have to wear the scent for the entire day.

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Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush Review

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Henna

For a natural day time look, the best way to go is to use as little shimmer as possible especially on the cheeks. If you have oily skin, you especially want something matte so that it absorbs oil instead of adding to it. A good matte blush in a couple of colours is always in my makeup bag, and my latest fave is Tarte’s Amazonian Clay Blush.

The blushes are totally matte, but unlike most matte powders, these don’t actually dry out the skin. They just stick to it, and absorb any excess oil so that they last on your face.

Tarte says that they last 12 hours. Guess what? I wear the blush daily, and it lasts even 16 hours.

The Amazonian Clay blush is awesome because it’s probably the most long-lasting blush that I’ve ever used, and the colours are bright and easy to wear.

The blush is quite pigmented so a little bit goes a long way.

My favourite colours are: Exposed which is a nude beige pink that’s easy to wear, and Tipsy which is the perfect coral.

Pick it up at Sephora. Each blush is $30 and well worth the price.

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Dolce and Gabbana Rose The One

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Henna

Around here, you know that I have a thing for rose-scented perfumes, and my latest find is Dolce and Gabbana’s Rose The One which was launched in 2009.

The official notes of the scent are: black-currant, pink grapefruit, mandarin, lily of the valley, rose, litchi, peony, Madonna lily, ambrette seed, sandalwood, musk and vanilla, but I have to say that I don’t smell a lot of vanilla and musk in the drydown, and despite all the fruits in the descriptions, this is not a gourmand fragrance.

It is, however, light and refreshing, and wholly rosy in a way that a teenager might appreciate. There is a pink grapefruit opening which is fresh and pleasing, and it’s a note that seems to last throughout the scent. The middle notes are rose, lily of the valley, and peony to give it a very feminine floral aspect.

The drydown would have been nice if it had been a vanilla or musk base, but it’s not. The rose doesn’t change into anything deeper or more interesting and stays light and fresh which may or may not be what you’re looking for.

Though this didn’t knock me off my feet, and it wasn’t as dry and woody as I like my scents to be, it was a lovely weekend fragrance to wear. It wore easily, had good lasting power, and wasn’t intrusive. It made me feel young and pretty though on a daily basis, I would miss the edge of sophistication that I’m usually looking for.

If you like Chloe, you would like this too. It gives you a nice quick fix of roses, which is sometimes all I’m looking for.

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CND Perfectly Bare Swatches

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Henna

I don’t have a lot of experience with CND nail polishes, but even before I tried this colour, I loved the brand. Why? Because they categorize their nail colours by the kind of finish they provide, so that you can choose the nail polish you want easily! For example, the Perfectly Bare nail polish is available in a warm opaque and warm sheer formulas. I love that they tell me that the colour will be opaque, because usually the natural looking polish colours are sheer, and it can be difficult to build colour with them. Moreover, many a time, I have bought the polish only to realize that I was never going to get it to be as opaque as I would like!

Anyway, the Perfectly Bare collection came out for spring/summer, and as I said, is a set of two finishes, meant to be worn together or alone.

Just to show you how opaque the cream polish really is, check out my swatch of just one coat. There was a tiny bit of streaking, but I’m sure that if I had paid more attention, I could have gotten a flawless coat.

In any case, I ended up doing two coats of the polish which looked lovely.

Finally, here’s a picture with a coat of the Perfectly Bare shimmer on top. The effect is pretty but really subtle. The shimmer is a peachy pink pearl polish with silver specks of glitter in it. It would look on top of many nail colours.

I liked the Perfectly Bare collection, but as it’s supposed to match your own skin colour, therefore, I think that lighter skin tones would really like this collection.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged CND | 2 Comments

Stila All Over Shimmer Duo in Kitten

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Henna

Check out my picture of Stila’s new All Over Shimmer Duo in Kitten.

At one point, Kitten eyeshadow by Stila was in everyone’s makeup bag as their holy grail of eyeshadows and highlighters. It was just the prettiest colour, and left the perfect soft sheen on brow bones and on top of cheeks. It was kind of like a warm champagne colour that verged on nude pink. This colour looks good on everyone.

Stila has since come out with Kitten lip gloss, eyeliner, liquid highlighter, and now: an All Over Shimmer Duo.

The All Over Shimmer Duo has two shades in it: a light shimmering pink, and a light shimmering beige.

The formulation of this powder cannot be beat. It is microfine, and feels like silk when you touch it. Just a tiny dab gives you tons of powder and shimmery payoff, so it’s really easy to use without getting a frosty kind of look.

Stila suggests that you use this all over – your cheeks, eyes, for highlighting your face or your body. I like to use it as a simple highlighter, and will even put it on my arms and legs to give myself a bit of a glow. Because the powder is so fine and you really just want to use a tiny bit at a time, I like to use it with a fan brush so that I only pick up the smallest amount of colour possible. I also like using my fingers to blend it into my skin and get a natural looking glow

The All Over Shimmer Duo is $29 and available at Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutiques.

Posted in More Than Beauty, Spring 2011 | Tagged Stila | 2 Comments

Jo Malone Tea Inspired Blends

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Henna

This spring, the concept behind Jo Malone’s new fragrances is tea blends. Tea blends have gained recent popularity in recent years, and the fact that this is coming into beauty and fragrance is no surprise. Known for a variety of properties, ranging from anti-aging, to revitalizing, tea has come to be an important part of many cultures, even North American!

Tea with Jo Malone makes even more sense since tea seems to be inherently British and so is this fragrance brand.

The tea blend colognes are: Assam and Grapefruit, Earl Grey and Cucumber, Fresh Mint Leaf, Sweet Lemon, and Sweet Milk. The best way to wear these is to mix and match as you would do with any tea. When you want something fresh, add a spritz of the Fresh Mint Leaf. When you want something soothing, add a touch of Sweet Milk to your normal routine.

It bears noting, however, that all of these are so well formulated that you can certainly wear them on their own as well. These are not really one note scents. They are sophisticated and blended with other notes so that you get well-rounded and full-bodied scents. Though these are colognes, they have formidable lasting power and strength.

My favourite is the Earl Grey and Cucumber which is “a playful blend of fruity bergamot, fresh cucumbers anchored by a warm base of beeswax, vanilla and musk”. The idea behind the scent was of a classic tea party. Earl grey tea and cucumber sandwiches belong in a time-honoured tea tradition, and the fresh cucumbers paired with lemony earl grey is a nice idea. The Earl Grey starts off fresh and lightly tea-like, and then turns into a tea with milk and honey in it. I like the sweet honey like flavour that the beeswax and vanilla bring to the cologne, and I like the freshness of the bergamot and cucumbers when I first put this on. Because scents turn sweet on me, this warms up to my skin nicely and gives more of a subtle warm scent rather than a fresh one.

Jo Malone is available at Holt Renfrew stores here in Canada. Visit their counter for the whole scent combining experience.

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