October 2013 Favorites

Hey everyone! Today I'm doing my October favorites! Yay! I know I haven't done one last month (sorry :X), it's because I had a three week long internship in Montreal and I didn't have any time to prepare my favorites, so this month will have a bit more stuff than usual. It's going to include my favorites since the beginning of September and a few random favorites as well. I'm also starting a new favorites section which I don't usually do, the monthly fashion favorites! So with this say, let's get onto the favorites.

Makeup

- Garnier BB Cream for Normal to Oily Skin : Love this stuff, decent coverage, comfortable on the skin, love it! Got it on sale too, which is always a bonus.

- L'Oréal Magic Lumi Face Primer : Doesn't feel siliconey on the skin (not a fan of that) and helps foundation glide on and look nicer on the skin. Really expensive for drugstore though :X

- Quo Palette : Present from my bf ♥ at the end of September. My first Quo product and I love it! Super pigmented shadows and beautiful blushes. Been wearing the blushes all month.

- ZA Two Way Cake Powder Foundation : Only powder that will keep me shine free all day long lately.

- Stila Highlighting Duo in Kitten : Gives the most beautiful sheen on the skin. Worn everyday in September and October.

- L'Oréal Magic Lumi Foundation : Way too expensive (18$ at Jean Coutu), but I got this on sale. Nice finish, great coverage and the color matches me perfectly.

- Cover Girl Clump Crusher Mascara : Holy Grail Mascara, enough said.

- Garnier Roll-on concealer and treatment : very thin consistency, but nice coverage. Feels cooling on the skin, very pleasant. Usually overpriced, but I got this in a set at a super discount.

- Real Techniques Brushes : Contouring brush and expert face brush. Love these, super soft, dense and they're multi-purpose.

- Eco Tools Powder brush : nice for a light dusting of powder on the skin because of the tulip shape and the not too dense bristles. Very soft.

-UD All Nighter Setting Spray : Helps lock in your makeup when sprayed before and after makeup application. Expensive, but worth it.

-Wet n Wild Color Icon Highlight in Reserve your Cabana : Been looking for this powder for ages and I finally got my hands on it. Very subtle highlight, can be worn all over the skin for a nice dewy skin look.

- OPI Nail polish in Dulce de Leche : My first OPI and I'm not disapointed. Super easy to apply, nice staying power and this color is the perfect nude for my skin tone.

- Sephora Pencil Liner (Forest Green) : amazing staying power and super creamy. Very affordable too (11$). Seems like it could be comparable to UD 24/7 Liners for a fraction of the price. Incredible color selection (over 15 shades I think).

- NYX Slide on Pencil (Metallic Blue) : also an amazing liner. Similar consistency to the Sephora Pencil. Great color selection as well.

- E.l.f Black Liquid Liner : Never thought this would be my fave when I picked it up at Dollorama for the 20$ makeup challenge. Super thin applicator, very precise and stays on all day, love it!

- Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze : perfect to be worn on its own or underneath and taupey shadow. Stays on all day.

- Ardell Wispies Lashes : another product I've been wanting for ages and I'm not disappointed. They look great on and you can barely feel them.

Fashion and Accessories

Sorry for the awkward mirror pics, I'm not really used to taking outfit pictures lol. 

Outfit 1 : Flared blue jeans (20$ from Winners) with sheer black High Low blouse with gold hardware (10$ from Dynamite) and imitation suede caramel colored pointy flats with a bow. (4.50$ from Ardène)

Outfit 2 : Caramel colored faux leather bomber jacket (70$ from Garage) with black jeggings (40$ from Garage), burnt orange, blue, white and black tribal motif scarf (2$ from Ardène) and caramel colored booties with gold buckle (60$ from Verona).

Outfit 3 : My snuggling outfit! It's an essential for me during the colder months! Black tank top (15$ from Colori - any comfy top works perfectly too), with hello kitty red and black plaid pyjama pants (15$ from Winners) and Jack Skellington Slippers (20$ from China Town).

In case you're wondering why my Ardène picks are so inexpensive, it's because I usually go at Ardène Dépôt stores, which sell older collections for 70% off!

Food

I haven't been eating very healthy ever since I left for my internship. I also got a new job, which means I have little time for cooking and no motivation for healthy eating. It's been getting colder also so I'm kind of leaning towards comfort food and junk. I've been particularly into :

- Soups in general are really comforting to me,  but I've been especially craving Spicy Kimchi Ramen with added strips of nori and hard boiled egg.

- Gold Fish *drools*

- Fibre 1 brownies which are only 110 calories and 5g of fiber. They taste delicious! I guess it's kind of an healthy treat when you think about it. Much better than most brownies anyway.

- Flavored hot chocolate, especially Rolo flavored, nom!

Random

TV :

- Vampire Diairies (very fitting for this month isn't it :P)

- The Nightmare Before Christmas (as always during october , I like to watch my favorite Halloween classic, I also listen to the soundtrack on repeat lol)

- Netflix!

Books :

- Uprising by Imogen Rose (Bonfire Academy Series)

- Angel and Demons by Dan Brown

Now that I think about it, all my tv and book favorites are totally Halloween appropriate, how funny :P

Shops :

- Target!!!! They have just opened here in Quebec and I'm really excited to go shopping there. I've been once so far and I was quite happy with the cosmetics sections. Too bad we still don't have E.l.f though...

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That's all for this month's favorites! I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know if you would like to see more fashion and random favorites in the future :)

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August 2013 Beauty and Random Favorites

Beauty Favorites

♥ Victoria Secret Very Sexy Body Spray : it's a little heavier and sweeter than the other Victoria Secret fragrance that I have. I like this one in the evening.

♥ Organix Moroccan Argan Oil : Leaves my hair silky smooth and very soft. It's smells amazing and it's super affordable.

♥ Lush Lip Scrub : Gets rid of ALL the dead skin on my lips, like absolutely nothing else. Completely obsessed with this.

♥ Ardell 120 Demi Lashes : I love that these lashes flare out at the outer corners. It really gives a nice look to the lashes.

♥ Maybelline Color Tattoo (Bad to the Bronze and Barely Branded) : I've been loving using these bases under natural makeup looks. The two shades that are my favorites are exactly what I need for daily use.

♥ Benefit Hoola Bronzer : a favorite for a long time now, and the sample size is still going strong!

♥ Eco Tools Brushes : I love their powder brush, their buffing brush, their large flat shading brush and their smudge brush (which I use as a pencil brush) lately. I use them every time I do a makeup look.

♥ Real Techniques brushes : Lately I'm using the Expert face brush, the contour brush and the large blending brush (which I use for concealer and cream highlighting products) a lot . Love the quality of these.

♥ Black Eyeliner : Got this in Thailand, not sure of the brand, but it's my go-to eyeliner at the moment.

♥ Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Honey : Love the texture and great color. It's comfortable on the lips and stays on for a while. Really easy to wear on a day-to-day basis.

♥ Cover Girl Clump Crusher Mascara : Still loving this mascara. I think it's been in every favorite for the past six months. Shows just how much I love this thing.

♥ NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk : Very useful base for colorful looks. It will make any color pop.

♥ Rimmel London blush in Bronze : I like the formula of this blush (the texture is silky and it's easy to apply), and it gives a nice bronzey look to the cheeks, perfect for summer.

♥ Milani Brow Fix Brow Kit in Light : Perfect color for my eyebrows. I use this all the time now!

♥ Nivea Lip Butter in Vanilla and Macademia : this smells amazing, kind of like vanilla cake. Also, I love the packaging.

Favorites accessories

All of these bracelets and earrings are from Ardène, except the one that is on the far left, and the black and gold anklet.  The first one is a friendship bracelet with turtle patterns that I made myself and the anklet I got in Thailand last year.

Random Favorites

Games
♥ The sims 3
♥ In the groove 2

Books
♥ The Vampire Academy book series

Electronics
♥ Nexus 7 Tablet
♥ My Kindle

TV Shows
♥ Dollhouse
♥ Bones
♥ True Blood Season 6

That's it for this month's favorites! Check out my July 2013 Favorites if you're interested to know what my favorite products were last month.

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DIY : Earring for Sensitive Ears

Hey everyone! Today i'm back with a cool DIY idea that I've come up with recently. It's super easy and it has completely changed my life! (At least in terms of being able to wear earrings again!) I know many of you out there might have this issue as well : I cannot wear jewelry that isn't made of real gold. I can tolerate necklaces and bracelets if they're not too tight (I can't do watches for example), but rings and earrings that aren't gold are a no-go for me. My ears swell up, become itchy and red in a matter of minutes unless I wear gold earrings.

It's especially annoying because I really like costume jewelry. If I were to buy a pair of hoops made of real gold, I'd have to shell out at least 75$ if not more, which is definitely over my budget! So I thought of a way to make cheap costume jewelry wearable for me and others that have the same issue! If you want to know how I do it, keep reading :)

I got these for 1,50$ each at Ardène. Normally I would never be able to wear them, but with this quick DIY project, I can now have super cute earrings!

What you will need

- Square Flat Nose Pliers*

- Round Nose Pliers*

- Inexpensive pair of earrings, preferably gold in color (I couldn't find white gold hooks, so all my hook are gold in color, meaning it matches gold earring better. You could use them for silver colored earring too though). It needs to be hook earrings. Studs or hoops won't work with this technique .

- A pair of 10 carat gold earring hooks. I got mine at a local jewelry making supply store. They were 5$ a pair so this pair of earrings cost me 6,50$ pretty good right?

* You can get these in jewelry making supply store or online. 

Step 1

Using the flat pliers, open the metal part of the hook that isn't melded into the rest of the metal. It should be on the loop at the bottom of the hook, close to where the hook attaches to the earring. You should then be able to remove the original hook from the rest of the earring.

Step 2

Open the loop of the gold hook the same way you did the other, using the flat pliers. 

Step 3

Now that the gold hook is open you can slide it the opening into the earring. Make sure to place it so that once the hook goes into your ear, the earring is facing the right way.

Step 4

Lastly, using the round nose pliers, close the loop of the hook so that the hook is now securely attached to the earring.

The results

 And that's it! It's super easy and now you can wear inexpensive earrings without getting uncomfortable reactions! I'm so glad I thought of this! I can't stop buying earrings now :P

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I hope this helps and that you liked this quick DIY post! Let me know in the comments if you try this! ♥

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Beauty and Accessories Haul : Ardène, Spring, VS, Forever 21 and Drugstore

Hey everyone! Today I'm sharing a little (maybe not that little actually!) haul from my recent trip to Montreal. I hadn't been shopping in a while so I went a little crazy with accessories and beauty products.

Here's all that I got

I didn't get that much makeup, but I went for skin, nails and accessories this time!

- Bag from Spring (30$)

- Wallet from Access (20$)

- Accessories : bracelets, scarf, hair clip and earrings from Ardène, Necklaces from Forever 21

- Skin care : Bioderma, Laroche Posay from Shopper's Drugmart

- Mascara and Makeup wipes from Shopper's Drugmart

- Perfume from Victoria Secret

- Nail polish, base and top coat from Winners

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On an unrelated topic, I'm moving (yes, again!) very soon. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be moving around mid June in a new building a few minutes away from where I live. It's closer to the university and much much nicer! We haven't had confirmation yet, so I'm anxiously waiting to know if we got it. Wish me luck!

That's all for today :) Hope you enjoyed this Haul!

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April 2013 Beauty Favorites!

Hey everyone! Now that April is over, it's time for monthly favorites ♥

April has been quite hectic for me with school and everything, so the month went by super fast. I can hardly believe may is just around the corner already! It's finally getting warmer here in Quebec City so that's definitely making me quite excited for summer. My trimester will be over in just a little over three days, but unfortunately, my summer trimester is starting next Monday :( 

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Anyway, let's get started with my Beauty Favorites 

  I have quite a few new favorites to share with you all this month :) 

♥ Neutrogena Oil Free Makeup Remover - This is a repurchase, just as gentle and efficient as I remembered! It works great with waterproof mascara too (which I have been into lately).

♥ Equate Facial Cleansing Towelettes - I probably mentioned this a million times on my blog now. I just cannot get enough of these! I was super glad to get these again in April since I had run out and had to get by with another brand for a couple weeks. 

♥ Samani Makeup Brush Cleaner - This is very new to me. I've never had brush cleaner before. I really like this, it gets the product out of my brushes instantly so I can use them to apply multiple colors.

♥ L'Oréal Kids Tangle Tamer - Seems to work ok for detangling (my hair isn't all that tangly usually), but the smell is absolutely fabulous. It smells like yummy pears, it's awesome :D

♥ Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Clear - I've gotten into filling my eyebrows lately (especially if I'm going to take pictures, it looks a lot more put together). This is a cheap and efficient way to keep my brows looking tidy.

♥ Rimmel Scandal'Eyes Kohl in Nude - I love this on the waterline. It makes your eyes look bright and awake. If I'm going for a natural look, I much prefer nude to white. This pencil is super creamy as well, I wish it came in more colors.

♥ Bonne Bell Liplites - Not sure what this one if called but it's  a creamy medium pink color. It smells like vanilla cake, yummy!

♥ NYX Eyeshadow Base in Nude - This is a great primer for eye shadow, it really helps the shadow stick to the lids. I also love that it is tinted because it hides all the little veins in my eyes.

♥ Kiss 05 Lashes - These look great on. They're not too overpowering, but they're still long and dramatic! They're also super comfortable and light.

♥ Sally Hansen Nail Polish in Pacific Blue - I've had this for a couple years now and it hasn't dried up. Love this color for spring :)

♥ Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette - I bought two of these at the beginning of the month. One for myself and one for my giveaway. I have been using mine constantly. I love everything about it! I think I might do a full review about it soon, would you be interested in that? Let me know!

♥ Lush Shampoo Bar in Seanik - I'm super impressed with this! The smell is very nice (even though I was skeptical at first, it seemed a bit salty for a hair product), it leaves my hair feeling super clean and weightless and it rinses off really well. To my surprise it lathers very well too. I love this.

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And now my Favorite Accessories for this month

♥ Bracelets from Ardène (except the gold bracelet on the left which is from Suzy) - This month I have been loving the combination of gold, white and turquoise. It looks great paired with peach, pink and cream :)

Hair clip from Ardène - I got it from a surprise baggie (Yes my friends and I  still get those 2 for 5$ surprise bags because we're just like little kids :P) Usually we get mostly rubbish from them, (once my friend got an awesome owl necklace though) but this time I got this hair clip. At first I didn't think much of it, until I tried it in my hair. It's is so strong for it's tiny size I can't even believe it. I have a ton of hair and it can hold my bun all day, no hair bands or bobby pins required. I'm getting a million of these for sure!

♥ Necklaces from Forever 21 - The first one is a dainty bow and the other one has an awesome feather on it. I love them because I feel like I can pair these with so many outfits!

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That's all for this month's beauty favorites! What were your favorites this month? Let me know! I'm on the hunt for good Spring/Summer bright nail polishes :)

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My Affordable Beauty Storage : Makeup, Nails, Hair and Accessories Organisation Tips and Ideas!

Today I'm back with a post about beauty products organisation! I love to have everything organised in my home so I have been perfecting my makeup, nail, hair and accessories storage system ever since I started getting into makeup a few years ago.

I'm relatively pleased with how things are organised at the moment, so I thought I'd show you all how it looks along with a few tips and tricks I have picked up along the way to store everything neatly. Right now, everything is easy to reach and I can find what I'm looking for super quickly. It looks nice (in my opinion at least :P) and it's efficient! Do you have any makeup storage tips for me? Let me know in the comment section! ♥

Full Set Up

A few things you need to know about my set up :

- The white dresser does not contain any beauty products. It's just my clothes in there.

- I don't have a very big collection of beauty products. My full makeup collection fits within the first three drawers of the rainbow tower. Everything else is other beauty related items.

- Most of my nail polish is is the pink basket on top of the dresser. For reference, it can contain about 50 polishes (but they are tightly packed in there). I got the pink basket at Dollorama.

- All of the dividers that are inside the drawers were bought at the dollar store as well.

The vast majority of the stuff I use for organisation is very affordable and budget friendly.

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Rainbow tower

This rainbow tower contains all my makeup, nail tools, hair accessories, skin care and hot tools. I got it at Costco for 35$ It's great for keeping organised and it's super cheap :)

At the top, I keep :

- my light up double sided mirror

-a cute box (from the dollar store) which I store rarely used nail polish in

- my everyday skin care items : moisturizer  spot treatment, eye cream, lip scrub, eyelash curlers, body splash, eye makeup remover, hand lotion.

Dresser top

This is what I keep on my dresser. 

- I keep my makeup brushes in three vases I got from the dollar store filled with small plastic bead to help the brushes stand up.

- I keep my large palettes in a clear plastic file sorter from, you guessed it : the dollar store!

 Necklace organisation and clear tower

In the second white and clear tower, I keep hair products and tools plus travel sized items. I got this storage system at Walmart for 30$.

At the top I keep :

- 2 Double sided mirrors (both from the dollar store)

- My makeup wipes in their plastic container

- Cotton buds in a glass jar from the Dollar Store

-  Cotton Balls in an empty  Bath and Body Works candle which I recycled

- A small 8X magnifying mirror

As you can see, this is also where I keep my necklace collection. In order to help me find what I'm looking for quickly and to keep the necklaces from tangling up, I keep them on small nails that I have attached to the wall. They are divided by length and color.

This storage idea couldn't be more simple and cost-effective! It only costs 4 nails (so I'm guessing no more than a few pennies) and it looks cute on display like that!

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Now let's have a look at what's inside the drawers!

 ♥ First up is my eye makeup drawer! ♥

As you can see, I have divided this drawer using three plastic baskets. I have left one portion of the drawer empty to fit larger items. 

First basket : Liners and bases

Second basket : Mascaras

Third basket : Eyeshadow singles

To the side I have larger eye shadow duos, quads, small palettes, etc. I also keep my lashes and eyelash glue there.

 ♥ Lips drawer ♥

You can easily spot my lip balm addiction here :P

I have divided this drawer using 4 baskets.

First basket : Lipbalms (there is more than one layer of lip balm and it could fit another one easily)
Second basket : Lip sticks (also has two layers of products)
Third basket : Glosses
Fourth basket : Lip balms in a pot and backups

Super easy and neat looking, in my opinion :)

♥ Face drawer ♥

These pink dividers a a little different from my grey ones but they are also from the Dollar store. The small long ones are 3 for 1$ and the large rectangular one is 1$.

The baskets aren't exactly divided by type of product, more by the size and shape of the products. As you can see, the third basket contains small round products while the fourth has concealers and primers mostly.

 ♥ Bracelet drawer ♥

In this drawer, I squeezed four long and thin dividers.

First basket : Watches (mostly my boyfriend's watches)

Second basket : Fabric/string bracelets

Third basket : Stretchy bracelets

Fourth basket : Bangles

♥ Nails Drawer ♥

Again, different dividers, but also from the Dollar Store. These clear ones were a tad more expensive, but still not over 1$ a piece. The are also longer than the other plastic kinds. I love that they are clear they look very nice and clean.

First basket : Nail art plates, nail art stamp and scraper, buffing blocks, nail clippers, nails files, nail polish thinner.
Second basket : Cotton rounds, cotton swabs, pure acetone and toes separators
Third basket : Rhinestones, sponges, tweezers.

This is my least favorite drawer because it's a little messy looking in my opinion. Please let me know if you have any ideas for improving on this one :)

 ♥ Skin care drawer ♥

For this drawer, since product size vary so much and since some products are quite big, I couldn't find a proper way to place them into baskets. Instead, I chose to place an anti-slip fabric at the bottom so the products don't roll around when opened. 

The drawer is a little empty looking right now because I'm working on using some of these products!

♥ Beauty Tools drawer ♥

In here I keep makeup sponges, cosmetic cotton swabs, backup makeup wipes and perfume samples (inside the pink makeup bag - which is from the dollar store). Not very exciting, but you gotta put these things somewhere right?

♥ Bath and Body Works drawer ♥

Right now it's pretty empty looking, because I'm working on using up my products. I haven't been to Bath and Body Works in a few months! This drawer is divided with four baskets, three thin and one square.

First basket : Hand sanitizers

Second basket : Spare wallflower with recharges.

Third basket : Backup body splash

Fourth basket : Empty at the moment

♥ Hair accessories drawer ♥

In this drawer, I keep all of my hair accessories. This is the only way that I have found that is neat and organised to keep them. Otherwise I keep loosing all my hair ties and my clips. I think this looks very nice and clean and it's probably one of the drawers I am most happy with. I can always find what I'm looking for uber quickly.

First basket : Large hair clips

Second basket : Small hair clips and bobby pins

Third basket : Hair ties

Fourth basket : Headbands

 ♥ Hair tools drawer ♥

This is where I keep all of my hot tools. A great tip that I picked up from my mother is to keep the cords inside an empty toilet paper roll. It's not the cutest thing, but it helps keep the cords organised and protected. That way you're not damaging them by twisting them around the straightener. It also doesn't cost anything which is brilliant!

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Second tower

♥ First hair products drawer ♥

In this drawer, I keep my hair products which are in large cans or bottles.

 ♥ Second hair products drawer ♥

In this second drawer I keep smaller hair products.

♥ Hair brushes and combs drawer ♥

In this drawer I keep all of my brushes and combs. I have one basket which I put all the combs and small travel sized brushes in. For the brushes I like to put them side by side, but facing different directions so that the larger part of the brush isn't always on the same side. That way, I can save space and cram more brushes into the same amount of space.

I skipped two drawers after that because they just contain rubbish pretty much XD

♥ Travel sized products drawer ♥

Nothing too fancy in here. This is just where I keep all of my travel sized products and bottles. 

 ♥ Candles drawer ♥

Last but not least, this is my candles drawer (and the reason why I'm trying to finish off products before I go to Bath and Body Works again :P).

That's it for my affordable beauty storage tips! I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was helpful! I hope that it gave ideas to those of you who are still trying to figure out inexpensive ways to store your products!

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