Walmart Haul

I went to Walmart yesterday to check out their Hard Candy makeup line. Unfortunately, a lot of the products were sold out when I went! I will have to go back soon to check out what I missed this time around. I haven’t seen the Glamouflage concealer (is that what it’s called?) and the new super size glosses either, I was kind of disappointed about that, but never mind, I got other stuff and I think I will love them!

Anyway, I was very pleased to see how affordable everything was. In general, if something is about 7$ in the US, I can expect it to be at least 10$ over here. Hard Candy did not seem to be much more expensive over here than what I’ve seen for the US (I might be wrong though!), so that made me very happy!

I also got a nail polish (I love this kind of blue! I don’t own anything close to it), mascara and makeup remover.

This is what I got ♥ Just tell me if you want me to review any of these!

  
EDIT : I don't know if anyone else has this issue with Hard Candy face products, but the tinted moisturiser breaks me out and so does their Glamoflage concealer. :( I bet the quality is great, but I can't use it! Such a bummer.

Breakfast of the day: coffee and muffin

We decided to do something a little different today for breakfast! We went to a nearby store that sells yummy cappuccinos and muffins.

I got a butterscotch cappuccino with a carrot muffin ♥ It was heavenly :D

♥ ♥ ♥

Nails of the day: glittery mani

I have almost not worn any polish this winter. For some reason, I have become incredibly lazy and never felt like painting my nails. Since I made the French glitter mani though, I’ve been on a nail polish kick! Looking at swatches on the Internet, watching haul videos, I’m obsessed by all things nail right now.

Since I’m lousy at painting my nail, but was in a mood to experimenting with something a little different, I decided to go for a silvery grey color topped off by chunky rainbow glitter. The glitter, because of it’s texture, makes it easy for me to paint my nail because you can’t see it if I messed up underneath! =p Sneaky, sneaky, ahah.

Anyways, I like the results! =)

And this is what I used. For anyone wondering, that’s Revlon Steel-her heart and Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope. ♥

CS 88 warm palette swatches and Review

When I first discovered the Coastal scents 88 color Palette in Warm through Youtube, I was thrilled. Like I mentioned before, I have a student budget, therefore, I must make any beauty purchase carefully and do a lot of research to make sure I get value for my money.

This product is the definition of value for money. You get 88 neutral eyeshadow shades for 25$. It’s an incredible deal considering that nowadays, even drugstore eyeshadows can go for around 6$ a piece.

As far as the size of each eyeshadow, you could guess that they would be pretty small and you would be right. But while these shadows are no bigger than a dime each, I haven’t reached pan on any of them yet, and I’ve had this palette for over a year now. In other words, they last a while even though they are small.

As far as the finish goes, you get some shimmery shadows as well as mattes and glittery ones.

Basically, you get a good mix of everything. The color selection is amazing. If, like me, you like a neutral eye, you will like the abundance of beiges, champagne, browns, purples, whites, golds and silvers in this palette. I believe it has everything you need to achieve most natural looks. ♥ There are plenty of pretty highlight shades in there as well. Actually, there might be a little too many highlights for my taste in there. If I had one reproach for this palette, that would be it. I have too many whites and beiges I don’t need.

Finally, the pigmentation on these shadows is impressive. Of course, many of the pale whitish and beige shades barely show up. But you would expect that from a flesh coloured shadow wouldn’t you?

Other than that, I believe less than 5 eyeshadows aren’t as pigmented as I would like them to be in this palette. Not bad! The dark browns, burgundeys, blacks and golds are all gorgeously pigmented.

On a side note, a couple of the glittery shadows are very soft and will break down easily when you put your brush in there! It’s a little annoying, but nothing you cannot work around. You will also get a fair amount of fallout with some of the darker colours, but that’s nothing unusual and can be avoided easily by placing either a tissue underneath your eye while applying or loose powder.

In conclusion, for the price I paid, I am more than delighted with this palette, the colours are great, the texture and the pigmentation fantastic. I would definitely recommend this palette to anyone who like natural looks. It’s an inexpensive way to broaden you makeup collection.

Now all I need, is a little more color! I’ve been working solely with this palette for the past year

and now that spring is coming up, I’m craving for something more vibrant. I’m considering either the 88 Shimmer by Coastal Scents or the BH 120 eyeshadow palette 2nd edition. What would you recommend?

Here are swatches of the palette. Some of them are not very good :( excuse my bad camera!

Today's lunch : Temakizushi!

For anyone who do not know, Temakizushi is basically the conical shaped kind of sushi, it's also often called hand roll in restaurants. I like making Temakizushi instead of the more traditionnal maki and nigiri for two reasons:

1) The preparation is much quicker and simpler (no rolling or cutting required which are very time consuming and also very messy).

2) It allows each person to choose their favorite combinations and to vary according to their taste. Also, if we don't finish everything I prepared, since it's not rolled into a maki, I can just put it away to use in another recipe later rather than having to throw it out. =D

In my opinion, it is THE best way to make sushi at home. I used to make makis and that would require anywhere between 2 and 3 hours of work for two people! I would also have to deal with heaps of dirty dishes afterwards. Not fun!

Now it only takes me about 15 minutes to prepare the ingredients and the rice is cooked while I prepare other ingredients (I make it in my rice cooker and that takes about 20 minutes). It's quick, easy and super convenient. It's my favorite meal to make!

I took the idea for temakizushi on this website : http://a-vos-baguettes.blogspot.com/2009/06/temakizushi-1.html which I mentionned in an earlier blog post! I just love this site. This is also where I took my sushi rice recipe. It is the best recipe I have found so far, my rice is always perfect! ♥

Here is how I set up the table before we eat. We have got spicy mayo (I make this myself), panko (for the tempura-like texture), soy sauce, nori cut in squares, sesame seeds, surimi, cucumber, avocado and sushi rice. Yum!

And this is how I make them.

Place a small amount of sushi rice onto the nori.

Add the fillings in a diagonal line.

Bring both corners to the middle to create a conical shape. Dip in soy sauce and enjoy! ♥

We didn't have any that time, but I also like to use smoked salmon, Masago (a kind of caviar), and fresh raw salmon!

Lunch of the day : Ham and cheese sandwich with veggie soup

I made this super quick and easy lunch today. The sandwich consisted of baguette bread with mustard, garlic liver pâté (it sound aweful, but it’s really tasty), ham, Monterey Jack cheese and lettuce! Yum ♥

The soup is from St-Hubert and only contains around 40 calories per serving, amazing for anyone on a diet!

My favorite chapsticks

I have the worst problem with chapped lips. While some people get them mostly during the winter,I get them year round. Not only do I have them all the time, but my chapped lips are quite severe. Basically, if I do not wear chapstick almost 24/7, my lips get so dry, they crack and bleed and to top it off, it hurts. Not a pretty sight, trust me.

So I have tried quite a few different chapsticks in the past years, in search for the perfect lip balm to help me with this very annoying issue. What I look for in a lip balm : a good texture, not too thick, but not so thin that it does not last, a good smell (and flavour is always appreciated), durability and moisture.

I’ve complied this small list of some of the best lip balms I have tried recently and why I love them!

Blistex Raspberry Lemonade Blast

I’ve found this one very recently and I cannot believe I hadn’t given it a try before! My usual two pick favourites where 5$ each (and only last me about a month) which I simply could not justify paying. I decided to try something new. I just picked up the cheapest one, hoping it wouldn’t be too bad. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it not only had a yummy lemonade smell , but it also tasted like it! I love the fact that my lips taste sweet all the time with this product. Also, the balm is not too thick (unlike the lypsil brand kind of lip balm) so it feels nice on my lips. It lasts a reasonable amount of time too. Finally, the last criteria, but the the least , moisture is more than well fulfilled. My lips feel smooth and soft. I just love this lip balm!

Soft lips Vanilla lip balm with SPF 20

This is my go to lip balm, I love the smell, the thin texture (although it could almost be a little bit too thin, but I love reapplying) and the slim packaging. My lips feel super smooth and moisturized when I apply this. The fact that it has SPF 20 in it is also a definite plus for me! The only thing that is wrong with this lip balm is the amount of product you get for what you pay. In general, these will only last me about a month of two, so unless there is a sale, I always hesitate to buy it, even though I love it.

Softlips PURE Natural Lip Balm

I’m not sure whether this product has been discontinued or not, since I cannot find it anymore at pharmacies and it’s not on the Softlips website. If it is, well I will be very bummed. It is super smooth and it creates a sublte glossy finish. Less obvious than wearing lip gloss, but glossy nonetheless. I love the citrus scented one, but I haven’t tried others (I think there is a fragrance-free one, and perhaps another one). Apart from the amazing texture, what I love most about this is the packaging. It is packaged just like a lipstick and even shaped like one! This is very appealing to me for some reason. Altough I love this product it has a big inconvenient, which I have encountered with all softlips products so far, since the formula is quite thin, it rubs off easily and must be reapplied often. Therefore, a tube will never last me very long. If you know whether or not this product has been discontinued or if you know where I could stock up on these, let me know!

So these are my three favourite lip balms! What are yours?

I would also like to try :

- Mac tendertones
-EOS lip balms
- Burt’s bees lip balms

This song puts me in a good mood ♥

This is so cute =D

Makeup look: Silvery defined crease

I made this dramatic eye makeup (well it’s dramatic for me anyway! =p) the other day. I did a silvery lid with a defined shimmery black crease. I’m not sure you could describe what I did as a cut crease (it doesn’t look defined enough, at least not in the picture), but that was what I was going for.

I ended up really liking the elongated shape I created, as well as the thick winged liner!

What I used:

- Coastal scents 88 warm palette

- Cover girl lash blast in blue

- Sephora mascara in black

- L’oréal Lineur intense in carbon black

-Annabelle Kohl eyeliner in Mercury

1) Highlight

2) First lid color

3) Second lid color

4) Crease color

Making origami

When I’m bored, I like to make origami! From shrimps and hearts, to 3D starts, spiders and samurai hats, the art of folder paper can be extremely diverse and entertaining! ♥

I was first introduced to origami by one of my very good friends in high school. She showed me how to make origami stars and hearts with metro transfers. Since then, I’ve been doing a little bit of origami in my spare time. I bought squared coloured origami paper and countless types and colours of special star origami paper.

This is my current origami star collection, I have so many XD

It’s super fun, but it can get really frustrating and time consuming when you are trying to make a complicated model. Nothing worse than spending half an hour on a difficult origami and realise you screwed up. The worst part is, I cannot make a reverse fold for the life of me. Of course, most cool designs require them, bummer =( I've tried to make a Yoda origami in the past, but I simply cannot get the hang of it!

With a little practice though I’ve been able to achieve a few cool ones like a shrimp, a spider, some fishies and flowers =D

I take most of my models from http://www.origami-instructions.com, it’s one of simplest and easiest to follow site I have found so far!

If any of you have web sites recommendations, please leave them in a comment, because I haven’t got much luck with that so far =p

Here are a couple of my origami creations for the fun of it!

Origami chair, heart, spider and shrimp!

Origami winged heart, flower, throwing star (?), and crab =D