Melt Space Cake

I’ve been on the Melt Cosmetics mailing list for about a year. Every time I got an email from them, I read it anxiously, hoping, wishing, dreaming, of one thing: a Space Cake restock notification.

From the moment I heard of this shade, I knew I needed it. Everything about it spoke to me, from the beautiful mid toned cool grey colour to the sci-fi-esque name.

So obviously the moment I got the email I had to buy it.

When I checked my tracking and saw it was coming, I anxiously sat in the living room all morning, watching for the mailman. The moment he was out of sight, I ran to the mailbox and opened it to find a beautiful (if slightly damp from the day’s downpour) box.

It took everything in me to take pictures before I put it on.

Once the photography session was over, I ran to the mirror to try it out.

And I was slightly disappointed. With the $19 price point, plus conversion and shipping, I paid a fair bit for this lipstick. For that much I expected smooth application, no problems.  But it’s a very dry formula and it drags across your lips somewhat unpleasantly.

As is I feel like its best applied with a lip brush, as it’s quite difficult to apply neatly straight out of the tube. It would also really be nice if they carried matching lip liners, because I think that would be the best way for a really crisp looking line without all the effort of the brush.  Even with the brush I definitely needed to go back in with concealer to make things look perfect.

But as much as application was a little bit of a letdown, the colour wasn’t. I love it so much. It makes up for any other drawbacks.  And I honestly think it’s the most wearable shade in my collection of unusual lipstick colours.

It wore well for 9 hours, with a minor touch up after dinner and it was still in fine shape before I took it off to go to bed. 

Overall I'm very happy with this lipstick, and super excited to wear it again!

Fall 2015 Lookbook

Lately I've been trying to get out of a rut. Part of this process has been trying to dress really nicely whenever I leave the house. Another part has been asking my friend Mathuri to take OOTD pictures of me whenever we hang out. So I figured I should put them to use and make a little belated fall lookbook.

So let's get started!

This outfit was supposed to be very different. But then I spilled something on my other shirt and the bow tie I misguidedly tried to make in under an hour with no prior experience didn't turn out, so I just threw on a different button up and a cardigan and went with it. I definitely like this version better anyways.

shirt: American Eagle (similar) cardigan: Tommy Hillfiger 

(similar: Old Navy) skirt: home made (similar: Forever 21)

I'm slowly getting over my fear of shapeless clothing, and this dress is helping a lot. Nothing says "I don't need a defined waist" like a cute flowy a-line dress. The nice drapey cardigan doesn't hurt either. 

Also I highly recommend getting one of these ASOS oversized scarves, cause they're the coziest things ever and they come in lots of patterns and I wore mine as a blanket when I got cold at the grocery store last week.

dress: H&M cardigan: Walmart (similar: H&M)

scarf: ASOS (similar) boots: Call It Spring

Plaid = fall = plaid, right? Enough said. 

jacket: Marshalls (similar: H&M) dress: Marshalls (similar: H&M)

beanie: Journey's boots: Call It Spring

I wanted a dress with a hood, and I couldn't find one, so I made one. I'm considering selling them in my Etsy store because I feel like this is a niche in fashion that needs to be filled. 

jacket: H&M (similar) dress: home made 

sunglasses: Forever 21 (similar)

belt: Target boots: Call It Spring

What are your favourite looks for fall?

Review: Bandelettes

"Bandelettes® are sexy thigh bands designed to stay put and provide comfort and protection against chafing all day long." These things were all over the place last summer. Every plus sized fashion blogger I followed talked about them. When I finished last summer completely fed up with chub rub after trying a bunch of different products, I resolved to try these out when the warm weather returned.

I measured my thighs as 28" so I ordered the beige in Size D. But when I tried them on, they were, well not loose, but not as fitted as I'd like. When I wore them they stayed, but I felt like I still spent the whole day tugging at them. After some research, it seems like this is a common sentiment: they feel like they're moving, but they're really not. I don't know if this problem would be alleviated by sizing down or not though.

(also featured: my Captain Marvel tattoo)

They're very cute on. Most anti-chafing tips usually involve products that require constant reapplication in order to actually do their job, or bicycle shorts. So these are by far the most attractive option, giving more of a lingerie look than anything, while still getting the job done. 

I love these things. I've worn them three times now and it's just so nice to go out when it's warm and wear a cute dress and not worry about your thighs attempting to murder each other. All you have to do is stop worrying that they're falling off, and you can enjoy your day out in the sun, pain free (just don't forget the sunscreen!)

You can order Bandelettes from their site at www.bandelettes.com

Avengers: Age of Ultron Inspired Makeup

It's no secret I love superheroes. So I took today, the North American opening day for Avengers 2, to try my hand at some hero themed looks. Sadly my fav (Captain Marvel) didn't make the cut on this movie, so I had to find some other characters to be inspired by. I asked on Twitter what Avenger people would most like to see a look based on, and the top two were Thor and Hulk!

For Thor I took inspiration from his darker MCU costume rather than the brighter one from the comics. I went for a grey and silver smokey eye with bold winged liner (cause the man can fly!) And then I chose red lips for his red cape. I also went with a little bronzer, because Chris Hemsworth is always looking pretty tanned and beach ready. 

For Hulk I went all green! Green shadow, green liner, green lips, and then just a touch of purple on the lower lash line and on my cheeks for his purple pants. 

Who's your favourite superhero? Would you ever do a makeup look inspired by them?

Makeup Swap!

The other component of my hangout with Lauren and McKenna was a makeup swap. I ended up getting a lot of things that I'm really excited about. It's mostly lip products (no one is surprised) but there are a few other things that I feel like might be interesting. 

Rimmel Stay Blushed in Sunkissed Cherry: I've only ever used one liquid cheek product before so I'm interested to see how this goes for me. The colour is very pretty and I've been getting a lot more into blush lately so I'm excited. 

NYX Butter Lipstick in Little Susie: To be honest I'm not certain it's Little Susie? I'm not at home right now. Either way I really like this. I'm a fan of the formula, it's super creamy and hydrating. The colour is really nice too. 

CoverGirl Colorlicious Lipstick in Seduce: I tend to like CoverGirl lipsticks, and I love red lipsticks, so we'll see how this one compares to my other favs. 

NYX Round Lipstick in Chaos: Yet another red. Mostly I picked this for the name. It also swatched fairly different from the other red I chose, so I didn't feel as silly picking them both. 

Milani Color Statement Lipstick in Hot Pink Rage: It's so pink! Lauren didn't like this one because she isn't a fan of the Milani lipstick smell, but I like it. 

Stay All Day Vinyl Lip Gloss in Nude Vinyl: I'm not really a lip gloss person. I'm not sure why I grabbed this to be honest but it just spoke to me for some reason. So we'll see how it goes. 

Benefit Posietint: Another liquid cheek product. I'm a sucker for cute packaging. Also the colour is really soft and pretty, so hopefully it will look nice. 

Sephora Collection Eyeshadow in ???: I can't find the colour name online, but it's a really nice lavender shade and I'm loving pastel purples right now so I'm super excited to give this a go. 

Nails and Sephora Sales

On Friday I spent the day with Lauren and McKenna, it was a four part adventure: manicures, birthday dinner, makeup swap, and Sephora sale. My post on the swap is coming later this week.

I haven't gotten my nails done very many times, this was actually my third ever manicure. The venue was Polish'd Nail Bar which is located in the PATH in downtown Toronto. Due to it's location their clientele is mainly business people on their way to and from work. The experience is tailored to this, with a small, minimalist space and quick service.

The girl who did my nails was adorable and Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants was playing on the tv, so overall it was a great experience for me. The colour I got was Essie Flowerista, which is part of their Spring 2015 collection, which I didn't know until later but I'm excited that I chose a new and exciting colour.

shown here with matching lips (Maybelline Vision in Violet)

I had less luck at the Sephora sale. 15% off tends to bring out the animal instinct in the best of us. So it was crowded, I was anxious, and all the things on my list were sold out. 

Luckily the sale isn't just one day. So prepared to go into battle once more, I headed into my local Sephora. Luckily it was much less crowded, and though I browsed a little, I had my eye on the prize. 

My first pick was Clinique Cheek Pop in Cola Pop, which ended my search for a snow white blush. It's the perfect red blush, very blendable and buildable and soft and just. It's really nice, I'd really recommend it. 

But one of the things I excitedly grabbed was the NARS Audacious Lipstick in Janet. Which when I got home I realized was nearly identical to Covergirl Spellbound (if you're looking for a dupe I'd highly recommend it)

So once again I was off to the mall, this time exchanging Janet for Audrey (and returning a pair of shoes that didn't fit) And I couldn't be happier. Audrey is a much more unique colour, a sort of muted berry red. I adore it. 

(left: Cola Pop, right: Audrey)

FOTD: Sunset Lips and Cheeks

Last year, the trend was ombre hair, but this year, ombre is all about makeup. I've been seeing ombre lips all over instagram and tumblr, and yesterday I decided to give the look a shot myself.

I wasn't satisfied with a simple two toned lip, I also decided to go for a similar cheek look. The idea here is that it mimics the various stages of sunset, from orange and pink to pink and purple.

I went with a horizontal colour transition rather than a vertical one because I find it wears better throughout the day. Also I can't speak for all the CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipsticks, but Spellbound wears like a champ. It lasts a really long time and then leaves behind a really even stain that's actually kind of hard to get rid of. I was pretty impressed for a product under $10.

Products Used:

Face: MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NW15, Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer in Fair, Pixi All Over Magic in Bare Radiance

Brows: Anastasia Brow Wiz in Dark Brown

Eyes: Stila Stay All Day Liner in Moss, Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mascara

Cheeks: Benefit Coralista, Colourpop Mochi, Lovely me:ex I Make You Brighter in 01 Pink Glow

Lips: Sonia Kashuk Lip Definer in Hibiscus, Colourpop Lip Liner in Leather, MAC Lip Pencil in Nightmoth, CoverGirl Lip Perfection Lipstick in Spellbound

elf Small Stippling Brush Review

Recently I purchased a blush from Colourpop and I wanted to try it out with a few different brushes. Lauren, from Lipstick + Lacquer suggested I try a stippling brush from elf. Since Target Canada is nearing the end of its run, they no longer have much elf stock available. So instead I stopped by my local Superstore when I was in the neighbourhood and picked this up. 

This brush gave me a bit of a different look with the blush. I felt like I had more control than with my Real Techniques brush, possibly because of the smaller surface area, but also because of the technique.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with this brush, and I think it's a great addition to my collection.

Sephora Birthday Gift 2015

I recently went into Sephora to pick up my birthday gift. I've been excited to get this gift since my sister picked up hers in January. And for good reason! This set contains two NARS lip pencils, a Velvet Matte in Cruella, my favourite red ever and a Satin in Rikugien, which Sephora describes as a "rose pink", but I feel like leans more into neutral territory. I already have Cruella but I love it so much that I'm happy to have a backup.

Overall I'm super jazzed about this gift and I can't wait to get some use out of Rikugien to see how it looks on me.

How do you feel about this year's present?

March Favourites

H&M Hexagon Pendant: I love hexagons. They're my favourite shape, maybe because they remind me so much of bees. So when I saw this necklace at H&M back in December, I had to pick it up. Over the winter it didn't seem to match with all my heavy scarves, but now that it's been warming up I've been wearing it more and more. 

Bobo Academy "gay!" Bag: I got this bag on sale a while back, and it's become my go to tote. 

Colourpop Lumiere: This is my favourite everyday lipstick. I keep it in my purse at all times in case I want to switch things up during the day. 

Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson: After having a bunch of friends recommend this series to me for years, I finally started it at the beginning of the month. The books are LONG so it's nice to have it on my tablet rather than carrying around a huge paperback.  I've been loving it so far, so anyone who likes high fantasy, check it out!

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula: Okay this one is not just this month. I honestly swear by this stuff, I've been using it for years. It keeps my skin soft and smells amazing and I don't think I've talked about it here before, so I thought I'd share the secret now. 

Funko Pop Jupiter Jones: I went to Toronto Comicon a couple of weekends ago and picked this up. I love Jupiter so much that I couldn't miss out on this adorable little figurine. She'll be joining my Daenerys Funko Pop on my desk. 

Dr Bronner's Almond Castile Liquid Soap: After seeing Essiebutton recommend this stuff for cleaning brushes, I thought I'd try it out. I got the almond because I tend to prefer lighter scents. It works great! It's a little sudsier than I expected, but it gets the job done and smells great doing it.

Dove Dry Shampoo: I ran out of my tiny bottle of Klorane dry shampoo, and I was really sad because I haven't found anywhere around here that carries it. So I popped into Shoppers and picked up Emily's favourite. It's a little weird because it makes me smell like my girlfriend, but it's also pretty comforting. It works great and smells great, and I like how it doesn't leave my hair quite as powdery as some dry shampoos tend to. 

What did you love in March?

How To: Style Printed Culottes

I recently bought a really cute pair of shorts from Forever 21+. After I bought them I started seeing shorts like them all over the place. This type of shorts are called culottes. The style dates back to middle ages, when they were worn by male nobility. In slightly more recent times they were worn by women for horseback riding, and now they're back in style for a less utilitarian purpose.

These particular shorts are no longer available but cute printed culottes are available in many places, such as here, here, and here!

I love these shorts because they're a break from the usual short, tight shorts I usually go for, but also different from my plentiful supply of skirts. They're super comfortable and there are so many options for wearing them.

Here are a few of my favourite ideas:

click here to shop this look

click here to shop this look

click here to shop this look

Review: Pixi Powders

I've been eyeing the Pixi shelf ever since Target came to Canada. The branding, the packaging, the products, all spoke to me. The prices however, did not. So now since Target Canada is closing it's doors, and all beauty products are 40% off, I decided to pick up a couple of things.

After missing out on the MAC Cinderella Beauty Powder, I've been looking into a bunch of finishing powders. There have been a lot that have piqued my interest, but most of them are a little on the expensive side. But at $15 a pop after liquidation discounts, these two from Pixi seemed a little more in my price range.

(left: all over magic, right: flawless finishing powder)

There's a lot a love about these products. The packaging is sturdy plastic, they open easily and close with a satisfying click. It doesn't hurt that it's all also my favourite colour, green. The powders themselves are soft and silky.

"All-Over Magic is a multi-purpose silky powder palette for a sophisticated sheen on eyes, cheeks, face, or body" The powder blends beautifully. I was worried it would be too bronzey for my skin tone, especially because I chose it over the rose coloured one, but instead just gave my skin a subtle glow, like I had a really good night's sleep. It's subtle, and it doesn't pick up very well on camera, but it's a noticeable difference in person.

"Flawless Finishing Powder is a suit-all, translucent, velvet finish powder for all skin types." This powder was a little less impressive, but mostly just after using the other one. Due to the slight shimmer of the powder, I expected a more brightening effect. Instead the powder was more mattifying, and the shimmer wasn't noticeable once the powder was applied to my skin. The lack of brightening just made me all the more glad that I picked up both products.

Flawless Finishing Powder

All Over Magic

Colourpop Order + Review

So McKenna and my roommate and I made a Colourpop order recently and yesterday it came in the mail. I ordered a lip liner, a lipstick and a blush. I already have a couple of their lipsticks (or lippie stix as they call them) and I really like them.

This is the first time I've ordered myself, or ordered to my house at least. I was pleasantly surprised by the adorable packaging and the personalized card with joke. It was also full of foam to keep all the makeup safe which was great. 

I got the lipstick in Lumiere, a neutral, the pencil in Leather, a bright purple to go with my Leather lipstick, and the blush in Mochi, a bright, matte pink. 

(left to right: Mochi, Leather, Lumiere)

The blushes have kind of a strange consistency. I've been told they have a similar formula to their shadows, but I haven't tried those. They're very soft and creamy, and they build very well. I was nervous at first, as I tend to prefer powder blushes to cream blushes, but this one was surprisingly easy to use. I used my Real Techniques blush brush, but I think I want to try it out with a few different brushes to see what works best. 

The blush lasted 8 hours for me, which was as long as I wore it. I think next time I'll wear it without bronzer, I think this shade of pink would be better on it's own. I feel like the brightness didn't photograph well, it is so so pink.

 As far as the lipsticks go, Lumiere is going to be a great everyday colour for me. It's sort of a "My Lips But Better" kind of shade. They smell really nice, it's sort of a sugary smell, but not quite the MAC vanilla. Colourpop's mattes are more of a satin matte than a true matte, but I tend to prefer that. 

They're not super long wearing, which is fine for the more neutral shades but a little annoying for the brighter ones. I find they last about five hours, but often come off when you're eating or drinking. I don't mind reapplying so it's not a huge deal to me, you just want to make sure to bring it along with you if you're going out. 

The Colourpop pencils are nice. I'm not surprised so many beauty bloggers use them on their own. They apply matte, and they take a fairly steady hand to apply neatly and evenly, but with a little effort they can provide full coverage. I would prefer a twist up to a sharpenable pencil, but I do like that it's not a wooden pencil. 

It also looks great with the matching lipstick. 

Overall I'm really happy with all the stuff I got, though I'm a little disappointed I made the order just before the spring collection was released. I have my eye on Tootsie, which has been described as a dupe for Lime Crime Cashmere and I'm always up for that, but some pictures of it look closer to Colorpop's own Lumiere or Brink, so I'm not sure. 

But I do know I will be ordering more from Colourpop.