Canadian Beauty

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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Stila Coconut Crush Lip and Cheek Stain

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Henna

Stila’s Lip and Cheek Stains have been a cult classic the minute they came out, because they come in colours that look good on everyone, and they are easy to use! Instead of coming out with a whole bunch of colours at once, Stila is creating and releasing these one at a time, and their newest one is the Coconut Crush Lip Stain.

Now, when I hear coconut, I think white because that’s the colour of most coconut candies. What colour would they make this lip stain?

Coconuts are from hot weather places, and you get bronze when you go there, and guess what? That’s the colour of this lip stain.

Stila’s Coconut Lip and Cheek Stain is a lovely shade of shimmery bronze, and looks great on cheeks and lips. When I blended it on to my lips, it gave me a neutral hue because it mixed with the natural pink of my lips. It’s actually a very wearable colour and will go great with any bronzer you wear.

Check out your local Stila counter at Shoppers Drug Mart Beauty Boutiques. The Coconut Crush is $32.

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Zoya Sunshine Collection – Summer 2011

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Henna

This collection is made up of 6 shimmery brightly coloured polishes.

The colours are:

Reva – A cool toned strawberry red with glowing golden metallic sparkle. A very rich and luxurious looking gilded red.
Kimmy – Gleaming metallic candy apple red brightened by gold sparkle. Not your usual red shimmer- this one has a fiery attitude.
Apple – Luminous yellow-toned apple green packed with gold metallic sparkle. A dimensional green that’s clean and bright.
Tanzy – Light, bright tangerine orange with yellow gold metallic sparkle. A sunny orange that’s easy to wear year-round.
Rica – Warm light coral with pink and orange tones and heavy gold metallic sparkle. An alternative to flat corals for when you want to shine.
Faye – A bronzed mauve with purple and brown undertones flooded with right gold sparkle. A unique gilded shade that will work in any season.

Both collections are available now, but I know that many salons won’t carry it for a couple of weeks so that they can get rid of old stock first.

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Lancome O d’Azur Review

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Henna

Has anyone noticed? I have my perfume mojo back and it’s actually because of this new scent.

Since January I’ve been feeling a little blah about some of the new scents. I was looking for something interesting and to be honest, after trying the By Kilian sampler package this winter, it was hard to go back to something that just didn’t measure up.

Until now.

Lancome O d’Azur is a flanker to Lancome O which I reviewed earlier this week. This new scent is supposed to smell like a bright summer afternoon. The opening notes include something called Caviar Lemon which is not a blend of salty caviar and lemon. It is instead supposed to be a rare lemon that is so juicy that the insides look like little balls filled with juice – kind of like caviar.

The drydown consists of rose, peony, and then finally very slightly, musk, amber, and woods.

Like the original O, this is easy to wear, and quite long-lasting and tenacious considering that it’s supposed to be a fresh eau. I like it just as much as the original, and I’ll probably be reaching for either throughout the year.

You can get O d’Azur at the Lancome counter.

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Nars Calanque Eyeshadow Trio

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Henna

I finally got my hands on the Nars Calanque Eyeshadow Trio that launched as part of their Spring 2011 collection. I love the trios because I think that they’re a more economical way to buy the Nars shadows, and I like that the colours are meant to be worn together.

Calanque is going to sell out because of all the lovely neutrals in the trio. The lightest colour is on the sparkly side, while the middle colour is a shimmery one. The darkest colour is very heavily pigmented. I couldn’t not use it in my crease because it was just too dark, but it looked pretty as a liner for a hint of colour.

Will you be springing for this group of shades, or is it not worth it because you already have something like it in your collection?

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O By Lancome Perfume Review

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Henna

As the weather gets warmer, we begin to see lighter perfumes, and those that are supposed to be eaus. When we get warmer, the last thing we want is to be doused in a heavy oppressing scent, and so I actually seem to gravitate towards the eaus because they are so easy to wear and completely unoffensive.

I am reviewing O by Lancome because pretty soon they are launching its flanker, O d’Azur.

O is a an eau fraiche, which means that it’s meant to be light and refreshing. For an Eau Fraiche, I have to say that O is way more long-lasting than most eau’s out there, and it’s got a tenacity despite its mixture of light fresh notes.

It’s a citrus scent and has notes of citrus, vetiver, honeysuckle, jasmine, sandalwood, and oakmoss. I wasn’t too keen on the opening because it smells so strong and very much like a men’s cologne, but the drydown is absolutely lovely and it’s worth waiting for. It’s musty and well rounded, and that’s why this scent is so long lasting.

O is already available at Lancome counters everywhere. It was actually first released in 1969, and it used to come in a frosted glass bottle which has now become clear because of the launch of the d’Azur flanker.

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Try Lush’s Perfumes

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Henna

In my best products of 2010 list, I noted that Lush’s Gorilla perfumes were the nicest ones that I had come across in a long time. They are strong and unique, and yet still so wearable. A must try for any perfume lover out there.

Well, now, Lush offers their Gorilla Perfumes in a sampler set, so that you can try them all. Imogen Rose, Orange Blossom, Lust, Vanillary, Tuca Tuca, Karma, and The Smell of Freedom are all there.

The kit is $19.95 and only available until March 21st at all Lush stores.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged Lush | 1 Comment

Perfume Review: Very Irresistible Givenchy

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Henna

Because Givenchy launches an intense version of it’s Very Irresistible perfume this March (this is the one that features Liv Tyler in the ads), I decided to review the original version before I do the new one.

Very Irresistible is primarily a rose scent – the notes are Centifolia Rose, Peony Rose, Fantasia Rose, Passion Rose, Emotion Rose, Verbena Leaf, Star Anise.

The thing is that even with tons of rose notes in the juice, I don’t smell a primarily rose scent when I spray this! Aspects of rose, yes. Pure rose like in a Jo Malone or Lancome scent? No.

What I love about this scent is that it’s a more sophisticated floral scent that’s appropriate for the night time even though most florals are day time scents. It’s a strong mix too, because just one spritz can last the whole entire day.

The top notes of the scent feature a leafy currant, while the drydown is curiously sweet, almost like vanilla. I say that it’s curious because there are no sugar notes listed, but they some how come out.

Because this is a powdery floral scent, I prefer not to wear it at work as I find it to be too strong, but it’s perfect for the weekends.

Review on the Very Irresistible Intense coming next week.

Posted in More Than Beauty | Tagged Givenchy | 2 Comments