Quick Beauty Haul!

Just wanted to share a few things that I've acquired over the last 2 months. During April and May I really tried to branch out a bit and get out of my "comfort zone" so to speak and try out some new things. I've had these items for a while now, but some how it slipped my mind to post them.. (I swear I have the memory of a gold fish sometimes!) Anyway, I plan on doing my May favourites post over the next couple of days so keep an eye out for that!


I bought these items from different places and during different times, so I don't remember what I paid.. Sorry if anyone wanted to know those details... Everything was very affordable and I got the items from The Body Shop for half off because they were having a sale.

On to the good stuff!

From Walmart, I picked up:

• Pure Ice Nailpolish in Crazy Love
• Wet N Wild Color Icon Blush in Heather Silk
• Wet N Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palette in Floral Values

From Coastal Scents I bought:

• Classic Blender Crease Synthetic BR-C-S08
• Classic Blender Crease Natural BR-C-N08
• Pro Blending Fluff BR-250

Finally from The Body Shop:

• Vitamin E Sink- In Moisture Mask (sample size)
• Vitamin C Microdermabrasion  (sample size)
• Pomegranate Softening Cream Cleanser
• Pomegranate Invigorating Toner

That concludes this quick haul!

Until next time lovelies!

xoxoxo

One Year With Ipsy! (Review)

I thought I would share all 12 of my glam bags and do a sort of review of Ipsy and their service from my point of view.. Obviously everyone will have a different opinion and will have gotten different products but this is just from my own personal experience. 

I first heard of Ipsy through You Tube, and I was hesitant about subscribing, because there were a lot of negative reviews. However, it seemed that they were from a few years ago when the glam bag was still fairly new. I feel like I subscribed around a good time, because it looked like Ipsy was revamping the products they were offering and just stepping things up in general, so I decided to give it a try and see if I would like it. I picked Ipsy for a few reasons, but mainly because of the fact that they were different than any of the other services in the way they deliver their products, (most companies send their items in a box every month, where Ipsy sends their products in a cute and different new makeup bag with every month.) also because of their price, the fact that they shipped to Canada, and out of the other services Ipsy seemed to be the best bang for my buck so to speak. I receive at least 5 products every month, (there was one month I only got 4) there is usually always at least one full sized product or large sample size, I've never gotten the same item twice, and they don't send out those lame small sample packets. (This has been my experience anyway) I don't always love every item I get, but more often than not I'm very happy with my bag. There was one bag that I wasn't thrilled with, but 11 out of 12 is still pretty good in my book. I think I'll stick with Ipsy for at least another year and see where I go after that. I definitely recommend this service for anyone who loves makeup and beauty and also for anyone who just wants to try out new or different products that they might not think about buying for themselves or have never even heard of. 

After I signed up, I was on the waiting list for only a short period of time (I signed up in the middle of April and my first bag came in May) and I also get my bags rather quickly. There have been a few times when I received my bag in the mail before I would even get the confirmation email! I get my bags around the beginning of the month, sometimes the first week but usually the second week, I think there was only one or two times where I got my bag later than that. They charge the monthly fees at the end of the previous month, and during the beginning of the month they start giving hints of the new items and what the bag for the new month looks like. (I never look at those or peek at my glam room, because I always want it to be a surprise.) After I receive my bag, I go to my glam room on the Ipsy website and review all the items that were in my bag for the month. They started giving points for every review you do on the various items from your bags and also for sharing on social media and after you collect 1,000 points you can trade them in for different items. (I have yet to redeem anything) As always if you want to subscribe to Ipsy you can here.

Here are my bags from the last year:

May 2013:

June 2013:

July 2013:

August 2013:

September 2013:

October 2013:

November 2013:

December 2013:

January 2014:

February 2014:

March 2014:

April 2014:

May 2014:

That's all for now lovelies!

What is your favourite beauty/makeup subscription service??

xoxoxo

BH Cosmetics Haul!

BH was having a sale on their site not too long ago, so I thought I would branch out and try some of their products! I already own 3 of their eyeshadow palettes and I LOVE those, I had to see what their other products had to offer! I have tried 5 out of the 7 items I purchased from them, so this is more of a haul rather than a review.. I plan on doing some more in depth reviews for these and other items in the future! All of these goodies cost me $27.20 CAD and that INCLUDES shipping costs! I believe BH ships worldwide and they're always having some kind of sale! I definitely recommend checking them out!

The items I purchased were:

• Eyes on the 60's Eyeshadow Palette
• Bombshell Bronzer in Starlet
• 2 Blush Duo's in Daisy and Iris
• Flawless Brow Trio in Light
• Liquid Eyeliner Pen in Black
• San Francisco Palette

What drew me to this palette are the GORGEOUS vibrant colours! Since I'm trying to get out of my neutral box so to speak, I thought this would be a good palette to try out!

I first saw this bronzer on YouTube, Judy from ItsJudyTime (I was watching her vlog channel) received a BH package and these Bombshell Bronzers were in there and I immediately fell in love with the packaging! I had to see for myself what was going on and I guess this bronzer coupled with the sale are what made me place an order! 

I am in LOVE with the Daisy blush duo (it's the one on the left) it's so bright! I'm still on the look out for a blush that will beat my body shop one and so far this is putting on a good fight! I haven't tried the Iris duo yet though... I'm loving these colours for spring and summer!

This brow trio looks fairly dark considering I picked the lightest option, and I've used it once and I like it pretty well so far.. I'm still more comfortable with my brow pencils though, I feel like I can fill my brows in better with them... I suppose I just need some more practice!

I prefer eyeliner pens over the gel pots, (I still love them but they can be a pain sometimes) because I don't have to use a brush or anything and it makes application a lot easier! I'm on the fence about this though, I tried it once and it seemed really dried out and wouldn't transfer on to my lids.. I'll have to give it another go and see what happens.

I really wanted to try out one of the California palettes and naturally I chose the San Francisco palette! I liked the colours in this one compared to the other 2 and I felt that I would get a lot more use out of this one. Plus being born and raised in the Bay Area, its like having a little piece of home. I really love the packaging it's so different! I used 4 of the shadows out of this palette so far and I am really loving it!

On the left I am wearing eyeshadows from the San Francisco Palette and on the right I'm wearing the liquid liner, the bronzer, eyebrow trio and the daisy blush.

That's all for now lovelies!

xoxoxo

AVOID THIS PRODUCT!!!

Consider this my first product review... I wanted to bring to everyone's attention a product that in my opinion should be avoided like the plague! I bought a tube of Olay Regenerist Intensive Repair cream a little while ago and it was on clearance, (I paid $8 for it when it's originally in the upwards of $20-30?) so I thought I would go ahead and get it, because I'm always looking for something new and better to try out. I put a VERY SMALL amount on my face and went about my business. (The product says to put it on your "problem" areas, so I put a dab on my forehead and some under my eyes.) I looked into the mirror, I want to say maybe 15 minutes later and my face was BRIGHT red! It wasn't painful or swollen or anything like that which is why I was taken aback. I immediately washed my face and patted it dry.. but the redness lasted around an hour and a half before it completely dissipated and my face looked normal again. This was the first and LAST time I will ever use that cream, and from what I've been reading online, this isn't a rare occurrence! (I've read that some of their other creams were recalled.. How I wish I would have looked that up before putting this on my face!) Obviously most all skin products say that there could be a chance of irritation and if so to discontinue use, however I have NEVER had any type of reaction to ANY product I've ever put on my face before and I have fairly sensitive skin, so I didn't think too much about it. I own and love their BB Cream and it's never affected my face in any way, so again the thought of a reaction never occurred to me. I have to say that I'm thankful that it only caused redness on my skin, and nothing more severe, because I have existing allergies and there's always the possibility of having a worse reaction. If your skin is sensitive in the slightest, or you also have pre-existing allergies definitely steer clear of this! I think everyone in general should just avoid this product, there are a ton of better alternatives that are also at a more affordable price point that won't leave you with any scary side effects! (I suppose this goes without saying since I only used it the one time and washed it off after only 15 minutes, but I also didn't see any type of improvement in my skin. Even if I had, I still wouldn't put that cream on my face ever again!)

That's all for now!

I know these aren't the most glamorous photos, but hopefully this helped someone!

xoxoxo

My First Canadian Influenster Vox Box! (ImPRESS Nails)

I joined Influenster about a year ago, and honestly I haven't been super into or involved in it until recently... Influenster is similar to BzzAgent, in the way that you can get invited into "campaigns" to try out and review products for free. Before you get boxes however, you have to first review other products, take surveys, and unlock badges to build up your Influenster score. The higher the score, the more influence you have, and the better your chances are to get invited into getting Vox Boxes to try out. After getting invited, you then have to take a survey to see if you qualify for the campaign. If you're accepted, they send out your box and a confirmation e-mail and then you can claim your badge for the box and do the activities related to the box. This box was specifically for Canadian members, and I believe it's the first Canadian box to be released. I received 2 sets of ImPRESS press on manicure nails in 2 fun and bright patterns. I tested out a set over the week to see how well these press ons would hold up. I have to admit that I was VERY skeptical at first, because these nails claim to last up to a week! I don't know about you, but that seems like a tall order to fill especially since these nails don't require any glue, they have adhesive on the backs. The last time I used or even had press ons was when I was maybe 8, and I used to just use them for playing and those were terrible, they didn't even last a few hours, so naturally I didn't hold high hopes for these ones. I WAS WRONG! They went on easily, and lasted an entire week! Over the course of the week I hand washed tons of dishes, took showers, washed my hair, washed my hands, put on makeup, etc etc etc and they held on strong! There are a few downsides however, the largest nails didn't quite fit my thumbs and I had to put them on upside down to get them to cover most of my thumb nails, also after a while the print starts to wear off the nail, so they start to look kind of rough, and they would sometimes get caught in my hair and snag it... I think next time I'll trim them down, because they make peeling oranges IMPOSSIBLE and I'd prefer them shorter. Other than that, they are super cute and really do last all week and they look pretty natural (not real, but not like they're completely fake press ons, more like acrylics?) and how cute is that packaging?? I love that they come in a plastic container shaped like a bottle of nail polish! Any who, I liked them and it was a fun switch from the usual nail polish. (I got these items for free to try, but I am not being paid in any way to give my opinion.)

The Zebra Patterned nails are called D100 Dancing Queen, and the Bright Leopard Print nails are called D060 Over The Moon.

That's all lovelies!

Have you tried any ImPRESS nails?

xoxoxo