NOTD-METRO CHIC BY SEPHORA BY OPI

Love Metro chic by Sephora by OPI. It's a mixture of gray/purple making it one of those fun dirty colors. Sephora describes it as opaque dark smoke with a hint of purple. It's such a unique color and one that I get the most compliments on. This is a holy grail product for me, and one that I'll repurchase as long as Sephora/Opi do it. It's perfect for fall. If I had to pick the perfect fall/winter color and one I would purchase over and over again, this would be it.

What is your favourite dirty/dark polish for fall and winter?

Hope you all have had an amazing week.



Loving and missing right now...

Here are some things I'm missing right now..

1. My natural hair color. I've been a blonde for two years now and I recently had a whole lot of low lights put in my hair. I use to love the look of dark color hair on me, but now I sort of don't want the dark or the blonde....craving just my natural hair color. I think I'll drag hubby with me to the hair dresser since he has the exact same color and demand they bring my natural hair color back. =)





2. The beach. I grew up by the beach and I love to live by water. I miss it dearly and can't wait to move back by the ocean. This is a picture I took last time I went to Florida. =) Beautiful

These are some of the things I'm missing and wanting really badly right now. Here are some thing I'm loving and are making me happy =)



1. MAC peachstock lipstick. The perfect nude in my opinion. This gives that nude without the "dead look". Enough said...

2. Urban Decay eyeshadow in half baked. Could I have one more gold eyeshadow? I think I have them all by any brand, but I love gold shadows. These look gorgeous on green and blue eyes. Let me know if you have any gold favourite shadows.



3. Egyptian Magic cream. I just got this last week so I'm sort of rushing on this but I knew the first day I put it on that I loved it. I use this before going to bed and the next morning my skin feel softer than it's ever felt. It's a multi use product but I'm recently only using it on my face.



What are you loving or missing right now?

Hope you all are having a lovely day.



My favorite MAC holiday palette

So I recently trotted along to check the new MAC holiday collection and major disappointment is how I felt about it, which is exactly how I felt about last year's collection. I didn't buy a think from their holiday collection. I know this must be how a lot of people feel because I always find a lot of MAC holiday kits at the CCO. MAC need to step up their game next Christmas...please. =)
There is one MAC holiday palette though that I absolutely love and it was from a couple of Christmas ago. I normally try not to post anything about limited edition items (because what's the point of review something if you guys can't get it) but this palette has a lot of permanent eyeshadow and I will try to post a dupe for each limited edition shadow. I think everyone needs a palette similar to this. You can buy the shadows in pan form, and the small palette on the mac website and create a palette similar to this (minus the very goddy packaging)
What I love the most about this palette is that it has a lot of natural shadows and a good mixture of matte and shimmery colors. It can be easily used to transform your look from day to night. It's perfect for both a daytime and nighttime smokey eye because it has three brownish colors to create a soft smokey daytime look and three gray/black shadows to create a nighttime smokey eye.
The three brown colors are:

• Scant (LE) Scant is your average skintone color, and can be duped by Brule, Bisque or kid depending on your skin tone. Kid will be for the darker skintones. This is your average all over the lid color.
• Satin Taupe (permanent) This is perfect on the crease or all over the lid. It is a very shimmery taupe color.
• Dark Devotion (LE) but any dark matte brown will do. Charcoal Brown and Embark are great but MAC do a lot of brown matte colors.

The three gray and black colors are:

• Gorgeous (LE) which is a light silvery gray. Electra would be a good dupe.
• Ambiance (LE) is a bit of darker gray with silver sparkles. Silver Ring would be a good dupe.
• Carbon which is a dark matte black (permanent) Everyone should own carbon in my opinion, as you should have a little black dress in your wardrobe.

 Here are some pictures of this palette. This is one of the palettes that always travels with me. =)



Hopefully MAC will do another "holy grail" palette next Christmas. What do you guys think about MAC's holiday collection?

Hope you all have a lovely day. 

Bedazzling MAC woodwinked and other finds from Laura Mercier

Hello lovelies,
I recently had the chance to speak with a makeup artist from Laura Mercier and influenced by her suggestions, I came home with a couple of items that I absolutely love. I have had this for a few weeks now but wanted to try them out before doing a review, and I'm pleased to say I love them both. The first item I got was the Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Colour in Gold. As soon as I sow this I thought paired with MAC woodwinked it would be "a marriage made in heaven" and I do love them together.

Swatch of Gold by Laura Mercier

Swatch of Laura Mercier creme color with woodwinked on top. Doesn't this make a gorgeous gold color?

I also got Laura Mercier Mineral Powder in Real sand. One of my beautiful followers Marisa and whom I follow also http://anne-marie-bardot.blogspot.com/ asked to see a swatch of this. I prefer this to the Bare Minerals mineral powder. It is very light on the skin but it provides good coverage. This does not provide the coverage of a foundation but if your skin is good and you do not need that coverage, this would work. If you have oily skin, just a word of warning, this has a bit of a shine to it. It initially applies matte, but in an hour, you can see the shimmer. I love it though, and I have normal/combination skin.

I'm very tempted to check out Laura Mercier blushes because I don't own any of them. I'm very tempted by the color "Lotus" especially. It's a gorgeous pink.

Do you use Laura Mercier?

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.



NOTD Essie's East Hampton Cottage

I love a "natural but better nail" look and love colors that you can wear with anything. I love color polish as well but every once in a while I want a soft sophisticated nail color. Essie's East Hampton Cottage is one of my favourite colors to get a soft pretty natural nail. It's an off white with a very slight hint of pink. It has a little bit of frostiness and pearliness to it. I usually like cream colors and stay away from any nail polishes with frost or glitter but the frostiness in this color is very subtle.

I love this color. Love the name and love that is simple enough to wear with anything. What is your favorite "my nail color but better" polish?

Hope you all have had a great week.



My current routine

I read this in one of the blogs I follow, and thought was pretty neat to share what we're currently using so I am reposting it. Here is my current routine:

FACE

01. Cleanser
Origins "never a dull moment" face wash. Love this. I'm a devoted Origins user
02. Toner/lotion
Dickinson's original witch hazel
03. Serum
Origins Mega Mashroom serum
04. Moisturiser
Origins Mega Mashroom oil free moisturiser

05. Facial mask
Mega-Mushroom Skin-Calming Face Mask

06. Exfoliator
Kate Somerville ExfoliKate
07. Make-up remover
Don't use any

BODY

08. Shower gels/soaps
The Body Shop Soap Free Passionfruit Showergel
09. Body lotions/creams
Burt Bee's Milk and Honey body lotion
10. Hand cream
Lush Helping Hands
11. Lip balm or lip treatment
Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Conditioning Lip Balm with Turmeric

12. Perfume
Juicy Couture Peace Love & Juicy Couture


HAIR

13. Shampoo/conditioner
Moroccanoil shampoo and conditioner
14. Mask or other treatments
Marcoon oil or Shu Uemura Esxsence Absolute oil
MAKE-UP

15. Foundation
Laura Mercier mineral powder in real sand or Bare Minerals
16. Powder
No powder
17. Blush
This changes daily but MAC well dressed is one of my faveourites
18. Mascara
Covergirl cover lash
19. Lipstick/lipgloss
NARS orgasm
20. Eyeshadow
MAC tempting
21. Eyeliner
Bobbie Brown gel liner
I'd love to hear what your routine is so link me if you decide to do this list!

Thank you for reading and hope you have had a great week.

In and outs number 4

Hello lovelies,
I have been so bad about posting lately. So sorry...have been extremely busy but have still been reading all of your lovely posts.

Here are some of my recent ins and outs.

Ins:
1. Rosy cheeks. I was all into corals and peaches all summer but have totally switched to rosy cheeks. Two of my current favorites are MAC swoon and Bare Minerals Cheerful blush. These are both very similar in the way that they provide that cool precious pink color to the cheeks.

MAC swoon swatch

Bare Minerals Cheerful swatch

2. Highlighters. I have been all into highlighters lately as it is so cold and dreary outside so I need that extra ump in my skin. One of my favourite things to do is use a light off-white or yellow in my tear duct to open up the eyes. My all time favourite is MAC's nylon. Another one I have been using a lot is Illamasqua slink. This is a such a beautiful soft yellow. It really opens up the eye and it's not super shimmery. 

Another highlighter I have love using is Illamsqua cream blush in Lies but I only use this to highlight the top of my cheeks. Love this so much.

3. Eating healthy. I have always loved eating healthy but recently I have been stepping it up and trying to eat mainly organic food and avoid processed food. How pretty is this salad? This was at a French restaurant while on vacation. I do enjoy eating healthy. It makes me feel great inside and out. After all beauty starts on the inside.



Outs

1. Not having enough time to do a day's work. I'm always running out of time to do all that I need to do lately. I suppose I need to start doing some "time management" reading and practice. I'm currently in the process of deciding if I want to go to cosmetology school. That will limit my time even more.

What are some of your ins and outs?

Hope you all had a lovely week and happy Friday everyone. xx

October Favourites

Hello lovelies,
I can not believe October is over already. It's been so warm here, it's hardly felt like fall but my makeup has still been inspired by all the fall natural colors so here is a list of products I have loved using this month.
1. MAC paint pot in Indianwood. This is gorgeous. It's a very dimensional color. It's a bronzy gold with a bit of a brown undertone. If you want a "fun" painpot that will liven up any eyeshadow, try Indianwood.

2. My favourite eyeshadow this month has been MAC mulch. Mulch is a gorgeous purple/brown shadow. I love these sort of dirty colors. They are perfect for all over the lid or a smokey eye. I've been wearing mulch on top of indianwood and it creates a beautiful golden/brown/bronzy purple color. Indianwood livens it up and helps reflect light. In the picture below, mulch is by itself in the left and mulch over Indianwood paint pot on the right. 

3. Bobbie Brown gel eyeliner in Black Mauve Shimmer Ink. I'm in love with Bobbie Brown gel eyeliners. They stay put and do not smudge, and come in a variety of colors including shimmery ones (Love). I have been reaching for the black mauve shimmer ink the most cause it compliments Mulch so much. It's in the same dirty purple color. I took this picture in direct sunlight so it can pick up the shimmers. Gorgeous.

4. MAC pro lash mascara. I am a mascara junkie. I've been blessed with thick and long lashes, but they are blondish and invisible without mascara, so mascara is a must for me. This is hands down the best mascara I have ever tried. This is a favourite among MAC makeup artists. It doesn't smudge, it's richly pigmented, it lengthens, and it gives a bit of a thick effect. However, while several mascaras do all of the above, this manages to make it look the most natural.This doesn't get enough love in my opinion.

5. One of my favourite lipsticks this month is actually an all time favourite. MAC lipstick in hug me. This is just a pretty nude brownish color. It looks boring but it's so beautiful on. The darker your skin, the more nude this will look in your lips. On the days that I have actually worn lipstick this month, this has been the only lipstick I have worn.



What have you enjoyed using this month? Hope you all have had an amazing month.