October 30, 2012
Hi guys! With fall on full swing, I thought I share some of my favourite fall fragrances with you. I don't switch my fragrances too often; once I find one I like, I keep going back to it again and again. I do however wear different scents in fall/winter than spring/summer. Since I love heavy and musky scents, fall is my favourite season for fragrance. All of these are my second (or even third) bottles :D
1. Dior J'Adore EDP - I wear this on a night out which isn't very often for me anymore. It opens up more velvety and then settles into a subtle floral/powder scent. J'Adore was my first grown up scent so it has sentimental value for me. It is also the closest to floral I'd go and as it is an eau de perfume, it's very long lasting.
2. Aqualina Pink Sugar - This is my weekend fall scent. It smells like candy to me with some hints of vanilla. I would say Pink Sugar is the cheaper/less grown up version of Hypnotic Poison (see below); it's just less complex and doesn't last as long. It's pretty inexpensive and though I'm not the biggest fan of sweet scents, I like this enough for weekend wear to keep repurchasing.
3. Chanel Coco EDP- I know they say Coco is for the older ladies and Coco Mademoiselle for the young ones but this young lady much prefers Coco to Mademoiselle. If I wear to pick one scent as my all time favourite, this is it!! A little goes a super long way with Coco so spritz sparingly. It starts very strong but settles to the most intoxicating blend of oriental/musk/vanilla scent after about 10 minutes. Coco is warm, elegant and beautifully blended. It would make you think of a ball gown, a mahogany table, dark chocolate or rich velvet sheets...anything luxurious and fabulous!
4. Dior Hypnotic Poison EDP - where Pink Sugar fails, Hypnotic excels, mainly on the dry down notes. The notes are musk, vanilla (see a theme here?), oriental spice and a bit of jasmine. It's the softest of the "Poison" scents by Dior and makes me think of a comfortable cashmere sweater. Hypnotic Poison is my every day fall/winter scent and this is my third bottle :)
What are some of your cold weather favourite scents? Knowing my taste for musky/vanilla scents, what
October 29, 2012
Hi guys! I rarely haul these days but I was so excited about the Chanel holiday release that I decided to break the no-buy. Plus a little Chanel is always the exception. My husband actually surprised me and bought the holiday quad for me the day before I would go and get it myself :D
I love Chanel holiday collections. They're always small but very well edited. It's interesting how they stay true to traditional holiday colours yet manage to have unique combinations and textures each year. I wanted sooo many things but thought the quad, Harmonie du Soir, was the best part of the collection:
Each shade is very smooth and silky but not at all powdery. I would go on a limb and say this is the best quality eyeshadow quad in my collection. I love the logo design on each shadow though it fades upon a few usage:
I was so excited about this purchase that I put it to use right away when hubby, Sofia and I went to brunch yesterday. I ended up wearing mostly Chanel, down to my perfume of choice, Chanel Coco. Speaking of which, I will be doing a fall fragrance favourite later on this week.
Face
Marcelle BB Cream - Light to Medium
Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation - BR20
Ben Nye powder
Pink Cult blush (LE)
Pearl Blossom bp (LE)
Eyes
UDPP - base
Chanel Harmonie du Soir quad - all shades except for burgundy on the eyes
Blanc Type e/s - highlight
BB Chocolate Brown g/l - to line
Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara
Stila Topaz kajal liner - water line
Lips
Inglot berry l/l
Chanel La Sensuelle RAV
Sofia and mama before leaving the house. I put on a Halloween appropriate outfit on her. People in the restaurant loved her :D
Did you pick up anything from Chanel Holiday Collection? What is your favourite holiday collection this year?
October 24, 2012
As if it's already been 2 months since my little angel was born. Time definitely flies and she's growing up by the minute in front of my eyes. Here's a little update on my munchkin:
1. So she started to sleep longer at night. Since two nights ago she's doing 9 pm to 4 am, up for a feed and then up again at 6:30 am for her second feed. We still swaddle her in the Woombie and she seems to enjoy it.
2. She started smiling at us when she was around 5 weeks old and does it much more often now. It's the cutest thing ever! Can't wait till she actually laughs for her momma!
3. She can turn from tummy to back (since 4 weeks) but not the other way around yet.
4. Sofia's still a great napper. She generally takes two 1-2 hour naps and a few 10-30 minute naps per day.
5. She loves being outside with mommy. We go for an hour walk every day and she also enjoys the mall and interacting with people.
6. Sofia now weighs 13lbs which I was told at the Early Years Centre is amazing for her age (she's a bit on the chunky side, lol). She's still exclusively breastfed and it's going well for both of us.
7. She changes sooo much everyday. She still looks mostly like her daddy and has a great caramel skintone. People say her eyeshape and lips are like mine. Right now she also has amber eye colour like me though it may change. My own eyes were green as a baby and later on changed to hazel.
Now a little update on myself:
1. I'm definitely much more comfortable being out and about with a baby. It helps to have a well stocked diaper bag and I'm loving my Bebe Au Lait breastfeeding cover.
2. Having lost all the baby weight since 5 weeks post baby, I've started to slowly add workout to my daily routine. Will be registering for Fit Mamma workouts starting Nov 15th.
3. I have already met so many other mammas just by dropping by Starbucks near me, walking in the mall and checking in at our local Early Year Centre. I never knew having a baby would make meeting people so much easier. I now have an activity booked every single day. Calendar is busier than when I had a demanding job.
That was it for now. I'm thinking of making a post with my newborn baby essentials since Sofia's soon growing out of that phase. Let me know if you'd be interested in something like that.
October 22, 2012
Hi guys! For this look, I decided to go for as many colours as I could on my lids. I had not done this colourful of a look in ages and I feel like I was rusty with the blending. But I will be back there, give me time...
Naturally with eyes this colourful, you need subdued cheeks and lips. I used pale pink (MAC Pink Cult) on the apple of my cheeks and rosy creamy shade on my lips (Chanel Emperial RAL).
Hope you guys like this; Happy Monday!
Face
Marcelle BB Cream - Light to Medium
Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation - BR20
Ben Nye Powder
Nars Madly blush
Pink Cult blush (LE)
Eyes
UDPP - base
MUFE #26 (medium pink) - lid
MUFE #9 (lavender) - outer lid
Royale e/s (LE) - crease
Clear Sky Blue p/m (pro) - above crease
Vanilla p/m - highlight
Emerald Green p/m (pro) - lower lashline
Inglot AMC60 (yellow) - inner lid
Lancome Black Artliner - to line
GA Eyes to Kill mascara
Lips
In Synch l/l
Chanel Imperial RAL (DC'd - pale rosy pink)
And just had to share this, Sofia smirking at me from her bouncer upon seeing my colourful look :D
October 19, 2012
Hi guys! I was itching for dark lips again yesterday when the dark clouds didn't seem to leave the sky. I went for my darkest lipstick, Nars Train Bleu matte velvet pencil. Surprisingly even for me, I found it just a tad too dark on this particular day. So I paired it with a red toned plum lipgloss (MAC Purple Rain). Dark lips like this pair very well with light pearly eyes which I achieved with the LE Chanel quint from spring 2010.
Hope you guys like this look :)
Face
Marcelle BB Cream - Light to Medium
Nars Sheer Glow Foundation - Santa Fe
Ben Nye Powder
Pink Cult blush (LE)
Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Chanel Regard Perlee quint (LE) - peach and burgundy shades on lid
UD Tease e/s - crease
UD Virgin e/s - highlight
Blacktrack f/l - to line
Lise Watier Silver liner - lower lashline
Annabelle Le Big Show mascara
Lips
Nars Train Bleu mvp
Purple Rain l/g
My little girl is getting so big! Here's a picture of her I snapped yesterday. I will do a full update when she hits two months (October 24th):
Have a great weekend everyone!
October 15, 2012
Hi guys! I went into the mall planing on picking up two things and stay for an hour but ended up getting nothing and spending three hours. This is what happened when you go with a 7-week old who's temperament cannot be predicted lol! On the plus side, I ended up meeting two mommies and babies and we really hit it off. Who knew you could make friends in the mall once you have a baby?
Anyway, I wanted to do my makeup this morning and went for my classic brown smokey eyes. I used two of my trustee Nars duo's Pandora and Cordura. They key to good smokey eyes is to really pack the black near your lashline and tightline using a black kohl pencil. Here I used one by Lise Watier but you can use any soft black liner. And of course, no smokey eye is complete with nude lips; I used my palest one, Myth by MAC.
Face
Marcelle BB Cream - Light to Medium
Nars Sheer Glow Foundation - Santa Fe
Ben Nye powder
Sculpt Powder
Nars Madly blush
Eyes
UDPP - base
Lise Watier Black khohl liner - as base for lid and to tightline
Nars Pandora duo - black shade on lid, white shade to highlight
Nars Cordura duo - medium brown shade into the crease
Inglot Matte #390 (medium beige) - above crease
Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara
Lips
MUFE 12C l/l
Myth l/s
Chanel Argonite glossimer
And some pics with flash:
What's your favourite way to wear smokey eyes? What are some of your go-to smokey eye products?
October 12, 2012
Hey guys! Hubby and I took the lil peanut to Gatineau park this past weekend for a photoshoot. Gatineau park is 5 mins derive from downtown Ottawa and a great location for capturing the best fall scenes. Since it was Thanksgiving Monday, everybody and their mothers were there but it was still worth it!
Here are a few shots I wanted to share with you guys.
The trees were just so gorgeous! This is why I love this city and love fall season even more. Special thanks goes to my sister for taking the photos :)
October 11, 2012
Hey guys! You know I like me a full face of makeup. I used to beat my face every single day, even to go grocery shopping. Seeing that now I'm a busy mom to a beautiful baby girl, that's just not possible anymore. I still do a full face 3-4 times a week, but most of the time is minimalistic for this lady. I can't be out bare faced (lol) so I needed a light, all in one face product....Enter MARCELLE BB CREAM.
I had not given into the hype that was BB cream for the last couple of years until this one arrived at my doorstep. It was perfect timing for me and I must say I'm so glad to have tried it!
Marcelle BB cream claims the following:
- Even out skintone
- Hydration
- Anti-Aging
- Skin Regeneration
- Shine Control
- Soothes and calms skin
- Reduce appearance of imperfections
- Adds radiance
Have you guys tried Marcelle BB Cream or any BB creams for that matter? What are your thoughts?
October 9, 2012
Hi guys! We had a laid back Thanksgiving this year at my parents for lunch. Sofia is in a better mood during the day so now our outings are either for brunch or lunch.
I did a simple winged liner/red lips look. This is what I do when I do my makeup quickly and have no time to be creative. I'm loving the texture of the new Chanel RA's though; and Palpitante is a gorgeous raspberry red. Can never have too many of those ;)
Face
Marcelle BB Cream - Light to Medium
MUFE powder - 205
Sculpt Powder (pro)
Prim n Proper blush (LE)
Eyes
Painterly p/p - base
Inglot light shimmer gray e/s - lid
Copperplate e/s - crease
Illegal Cargo e/s (LE) - above crease
Chanel Mirifique Illusion d'Ombre - to line
Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara
Lips
Inglot Red l/l
Chanel Palpitante RA
Three generation of girls: My mom, me and baby Sofia:
Sofia's wearing a denim Baby Gap dress which is probably not going to fit her next week, lol! I'm wearing a silk animal print shirt by Beneton and circle skirt from Winners' (super old).
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Weekend!
October 8, 2012
Hey guys! I know everyone and their mothers were excited about MAC Marilyn Monroe collection, but I was counting the days to see Nars Warhol collection and stalking my local Sephora. Well, I mean I was going in once a week as it's kinda hard to get out that much with a 6 week old baby!
After reading reviews of the collection online, I decided I only wanted a couple of the nail polishes and snagged them up yesterday. My small haul consisted of Back Room (black) and New York Dolls (purple).
The nail polishes come in a silver box as opposed to Nars' usual black ones and are signed with Andy's name. The bottle themselves don't have special packaging though:
My experience with Nars nail polishes, unlike the rest of their products, is very limited and the only polish I own from them is Jungle Red. The first shade I chose to wear was Back Room. I found the formula very easy to work with; not too thin or too thick. The shade was opaque and shiny in one coat. It's rare for a nail polish to look this amazing with only one coat so I'm quite impressed! I think Back Room will be my new HG black (my old one was Misa I Will Survive).
Here's a quick swatch for you, pre-cleanup as I was trying to take pics before sunset:
I use black polishes quite frequently so this was definitely a great investment for me. I cannot wait to try on New York Dolls now! Will post swatches when I do :)
Oh and it seemed that I had enough points to redeem them for this lipgloss set. I'm not a gloss person but we shall see how these will perform:
Have you guys bought anything from Nars Andy Warhol? What are some of your favourite Nars polishes?
October 6, 2012
...so many things. As I get older, I see life and what I've been given in a new perspective. I'm thankful for life, peace, health, family, friends, readers, opportunities given to me...
But above all, I'm grateful for my little baby girl. I'm thankful that she showed me how to be selfless and to love unconditionally; a love I'd never known before.
I'm grateful to be a mother!
Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Readers :)
October 3, 2012
Hello pretties! These photos have been sitting on my Photobucket and I had totally forgotten to post this manicure. I went sheer and neutral for once on my nails and wore Essie Vanity Fairest. However, I was bored of it after a day and this is what I did with it:
Glitter tips are a great way to revamp a day old manicure for me (and for most, perhaps a week old manicure). It's more interesting than just adding a shimmery top coat, which is by the way what I used to do. I used the following polishes:
Left to right - Essie Pure Pearlfection, Essie Vanity Fairest, Zoya Charla (LE), OPI Absolutely Alice (LE)
Start with your old manicure (mine was a sheer beige), add the teal shimmery shade on a sponge and dab on of your nails. Then paint the very tips with your glittery polish of your choice in the same colour family. I tied it all together by adding a fine shimmery topcoat.
Et Voila!
What's your favourite way to renew a manicure? Or do you just take it off and do another shade?
October 1, 2012
I cannot believe that it's already October! Although change of season is very apparent where I live; the leaves have started to turn yellow and we are now at a high of 15 deg during daytime.
Fall makeup for me means darker lips and darker eyes. Since the last few FOTD's have focused on the lips, I made this one all about the eyes with smokey greens using Naked Cosmetics Ebony stack. I bought the stacks at IMATS 3 years ago or so and haven't used them in a bit. They are gorgeous smokey shades but perform much better damp and over a cream base (in this case MUFE aqua cream pot).
I usually do purple/burgundy smokey eyes as those shades look great on amber/hazel eyes like mine. But thought it'd be a nice change to use green. Hope you guys like this :)
Face
Marcelle BB Cream - Light to medium
Annabelle loose powder foundation - Beige
Sculpt powder (pro)
Prim n Proper blush (LE)
Chez Chez Lame powder (LE)
Eyes
UDPP - base
MUFE Aqua Cream Pot #22 (emerald green) - base for lid
Naked Cosmetics Ebony stack - dark green shade on lid
Old Gold p/m - inner lid
Wedge e/s - crease
Embark e/s - outer v
Vanilla p/m - highlight
Lancome Black Art Liner - to line
Stila Topaz liner - watreline
Lancome Hypnose drama mascara
Lips
Naked l/l
Honeylove l/s
Underage l/g
And the outfit of the night consisted of black top with leather paneling from Tristan and America, taupe and black mini by Marciano, metallic leggings by America Apparel and boots by Steve Madden:
