Eye Shadow Collection

Hey everyone.

I just started Youtube so please give me a break haha. I filmed this a while back and since have added a few more palettes but here is a pretty recent eye shadow collection.

Enjoy!

Bri

OOTD - MISMATCHED

"Fashions fade, style is eternal." —Yves Saint Laurent

Hey everyone!

Who else loves mismatched outfits?

 I don't believe in the so called "rules" when it comes to fashion. Everyone has their own sense of style and if you feel good in it then I say why not go ahead and rock it. Confidence makes the outfit. For me I've always been passionate about fashion, getting up in the morning and picking out an outfit for the day is like therapy for me. I could spend hours just creating outfits and different looks for different occasions. For those who don't know me I've been an aspiring stylist for a long time but of course it's not an industry that's easy to break into. A girl can dream right?

I've been thinking of applying to F.I.T for a while now but I'm also a person who likes a safety net. I really wish I could be that person who just leaves everything they know behind and hop on a plane and chase their dreams, but that's not me. That's not to say I haven't tried, I've applied for many internships, I've written letters to people I've volunteered at Western Canada Fashion Week, etc. It's really difficult to break in but I'm still trying and I'm hoping some day someone will notice.

I digress though, on to the outfit. Different patterns especially ones such as these many people wouldn't even dare go near but I thought it looked good and I felt amazing in it so I honestly could care less what others have to say. I am aware that the tights are ripped but it gives it a much more grunge look and I love it and how cute is this Space Invaders skirt?

Boots: Call It Spring

Skirt: Divine (I loved this store, sadly all locations have closed *cries*)

Cardigan: Who hasn't pulled old sweaters from their mom's closet?

Crop Top: Topshop

Necklace: H&M - I've never seen a necklace like this so naturally I picked it up.

I hope you guys like it and let me know if you want to see more fashion posts. I need to find a photographer or invest in a tripod though.

Bri

MAC Mineralize Concealer

MAC's Mineralize Concealer is fantastic for summer as it's more of a sheer coverage and feels light on the skin. It can be built up but I find if you layer it too much it creases quite easily and settles into fine lines. It's a brightening concealer so could be used as a highlight as well if you're the type of person who likes a more subtle highlight. I use it to brighten my under eyes but if you have dark circles because this is such a sheer and natural finish it will not cover them so this is not the concealer for you if you are looking for full coverage.

This is not a thick textured product it's a very light texture and it blends beautifully. The bottom photo is the concealer blended in to my hand and as you can see like I said above it's an extremely natural finish with very sheer coverage but enough to even out the skin and cover minor blemishes, works great for a no makeup makeup look.

It's meant to be a hydrating concealer, I wouldn't say it's necessarily hydrating but it's certainly not drying and it does feel a tiny bit moisturizing as you blend it in but that feeling disappears rather fast.

For longevity this lasted all day with no signs of patchiness.

This is one of my go to concealers for good reason. I don't have bad skin at all aside from the dryness so I don't require a heavy concealer for day to day looks.

What's your holy grail concealer?

Bri

Skincare with Aveeno

As far as skincare goes Aveeno is one of my favorites. Like I've stated many times over in various posts I suffer with very dry skin and it's not just my face it's my scalp and body as well year round. I envy people who only have dry skin in the winter months.

Aveeno's Daily Moisturizing lotion helps keep the dryness at bay but they do have a lotion for eczema which I suffered with severely on my legs when I was very young. Although the daily moisturizing lotion helps keep my dryness away when I stop using it I'm right back to where I started so I'm looking into the eczema cream for a winter alternative as I imagine it's a much heavier lotion. Aveeno uses collodial oatmeal as an active ingredient which supposedly helps to restore and maintain our skin's moisture barrier. It's a bit more pricey than other drugstore lotions but I've tried many and this one has been my favorite and is well worth the price tag.

Aveeno Positively Radiant Moisturizer  The active ingredient in this is a soy complex which is used to even out skin tone and texture making it more radiant. There is another version of this moisturizer with SPF 30 which I wish I had but this came in a set with a night cream as well so I'm not too disappointed. It mentions on the back of the bottle that natural light diffusers reflect light to visibly smooth inperfections. I think that's more of a gimmick than anything as I didn't really notice my skin tone changing at all or looking brighter. As for the texture it does help to smooth it out and your skin feels much more supple after use. It's a bit to light of a moisturizer for my liking especially come the winter months but for people with sensitive skin who are looking for something they can wear daily with SPF in the summer this would be great.

Aveeno Positively Radiant Intensive Night Cream This was included in the set with the Positively Radiant Moisturizer. This not only uses the active soy complex but it's enriched with Vitamin B3 as well. Out of all the things included in the gift set (positively radiant moisturizer/face wipes and night cream) this was my favorite product. It's not scented so great for sensitive skinned folk. It's a much heavier cream than the moisturizer but surprisingly soaked into the skin rather quickly as you rubbed it in. I hate to say it as I do love Aveeno as a brand but I didn't notice much more radiance to my skin with any of these porducts but I did notice after putting it on at night I woke up with softer and more moisturized skin but that's about it.

What is your favorite skin care brand?

Bri

Maybelline Pore Eraser

 

Hello everyone!

I picked up the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser last week with high hopes as I've seen this product raved about from many bloggers for some time now. 

This did nothing to blur my pores as you can see in the photos below but that doesn't mean it wasn't a good primer. In the before photo you can see some oily areas between my eyebrows and in the after one my skins texture is much more matte.

 

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As for the primer aspect it worked okay, it didn't wow me but it wasn't completely horrible. When you apply it although you can't see it there is a greasy film left on the skin and it doesn't sink in it just sits on top. You go to scratch your face or something and it feels like you rubbed your ginger through oil it's not a pleasant feeling. Once you add a layer of foundation on top though the greasiness I mentioned above disappeared so I'm not sure why but this is definitely not a primer I'd wear alone.

Even for a primer it didn't keep my makeup in place any longer than anything else I've tried and by the end of the day there was some patchiness where my foundation had broken up. I wouldn't buy it again although Maybelline is one of my favorite drug store brands.

I do think it should be rebranded as just a primer because for me it did nothing in the pore department which is what it's marketed to do.

Bri

 

Mini Haul

Hey everyone, here is my mini haul!

I picked up some products that were total hits and some that weren't quite up to par. 

You'll just have to keep watching to find out which ones =)

Bri

MAC Good Luck Trolls

 

 Is this the year of throwbacks or what? 

Pokemon, a collection inspired by the Trolls, what else? 

I'm not complaining by any means, as a 90's kid I am loving this! 

MAC's Good Luck Trolls collection is of course inspired by the crazy, colorful toys we all loved, the Troll dolls. 

I picked up two eye shadows from the collection; Atlantic Blue and Sun's Out, Buns Out. I adore the vibrant purple packaging and the cute troll imprint in the shadow. They nailed the packaging of this collection!

 

  

 

 

Atlantic Blue -  A matte Cobalt blue. AS with all MAC shadows this is extremely pigmented. I had to use a very light hand with this, not only is it super pigmented but because its matte it doesn't blend all that well. I had quite a difficult time trying to build it up and blend it out when using it. I love this color though. This is part of MAC's permanent collection.

Sun's Out, Bun's Out  - A yellow gold with pearl shimmer, this is MAC's veluxe pearl finish. It applied smoothly on the eyes and was very easy to blend out. It's limited edition and I'm glad I picked it up as it's a very versatile shade. On my skin tone it pulled very yellow.

This was the look I wore today, using Atlantic Blue in the outer corner and on the lower lash line, blended a little into the crease with Sun's Out, Bun's Out on my lid. I had a very hard time trying to get Atlantic Blue blended but Suns Out Buns Out applied so smooth and even. To build it up I just pat it on top of my base layer not that there was much building up to do as the color was already ace. The shadows didn't crease until about ten minutes to the end of my eight hour workday which is a fairly long wear time and the creasing was minimal. 

Loving this collection everything about it screams throwback and fun to me!

Bri

Fragrance Collection

 

In my previous posts I mentioned I don't splurge on luxury perfumes unless I really love them. I did want to show you guy my current fragrance collection though, which as you can see is mostly body mists...but there's nothing wrong with that right?\

From top left to bottom right;

Beauty Rush Winterberry: This is no longer available and I've been carting this around for years. It's probably about time for it to go honestly.

Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar (Perfume/Body Mist): For some reason I don't like the smell of the perfume as much as the body spray the perfume has a weird almost chemical scent to it.

• Top Notes: Intoxicating Vanilla, White Orchid
• Mid Notes: Vanilla Tonka, Sparkling Sugar, Fresh Coconut, Fresh Jasmine
• Dry Notes: Warm Vanilla Bean, Cocoa Bean, Creamy Sandalwood   

Japanese Cherry Blossom: One of my favorite scents from Bath & Body Works!

• Top Notes: Asian Pear, Fuji Apple, Ume Plum
• Mid Notes: Japanese Cherry Blossom, Butterfly Lily, Kyoto Rose, Mimosa Petals
• Dry Notes: Vanilla Rice, Imperial Amber, Silk Musk, Cinnamon Incense, Himalayan Cedarwood, Creamy Sandalwood

Twilight Woods: Another one of my favorites! It say's online that this is an online exclusive fragrance. I bought mine in store so I'm not sure when it was no longer available in store. Can you tell I love floral/fruity scents?

• Top Notes: Juicy Berry, Sparkling Mandarin, Coconut
• Mid Notes: Creamy Frangipani, Soft Mimosa, Wet Honeysuckle, Wild Freesia, Apricot Nectar
• Dry Notes: Oud Wood, Musk, Orris, Vanilla Milk, Warm Wood

180 Degree Pink: No longer available. I didn't know but I guess this is supposed to resemble 360 Pink by Perry Ellis which I've actually never heard of.

Love Spell - Victoria's Secret: My favorite summer scent. Lately I've been rocking this just about every day. It is a gorgeous smell!

Notes: Cherry Blossom & Peach

Avon Lotus Flower and Raspberry Scents: I couldn't find these online so I don't think they are available anymore. Again, more scents I've been packing around wherever I go that are about ready for the trash. These both have an underlying chemical smell so I wouldn't repurchase any scents from Avon. I got these when my best friends mom was an Avon rep and she always would just give me things to use so I did use them I've had these forever and I don't have any reason for keeping them any longer.

Insignia: I got this for Christmas one year. I'm pretty sure it' just a drugstore perfume.

A&F 8: Again, I couldn't find it online and I'm disappointed as I'm almost out of this and I gues I can't buy a replacement now and I really do love this.

Bath & Body Works Exotic Coconut: Another one that is no longer available. If you know me you know I love anything and everything coconut. Luckily there is no shortage of coconut scented items on the market.

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Bri

 

Worth The Hype? - Nivea Men's After Shave Balm

I don't always give in to the hype of products I see in the beauty world but this time I'm glad I did!

The Nivea Men's After Shave Balm blew up after NikkieTutorials mentioned she used it as a primer for her makeup.

I picked this up at my local drugstore for $8.99 CAD, may I quickly mention it's a fraction of the price of any drugstore primer for a lot more product. That's only the beginning of the positives I attribute to this.

First, I moisturize my face using my Aveeno Positively Radiant Moisturizer. 

Then I use about a nickel size amount of the post shave balm and slather it over my face. Yes, for a few moments you will smell quite masculine but that disappears rather quickly as the balm sinks in. Following that, I use my current foundation at the moment which is the COVERGIRL Ready, Set, Gorgeous foundation.

The consistency of this is quite thin and watery but it dries down quickly and then you can continue on with your daily routine of looking flawless!

 This doesn't contain any alcohol that is going to dry out your skin which for someone like myself is a big plus.

{Ingredients: Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Chamomilla Recuitita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tapioca Starch, Triceteareth-4 Phosphate, Maltodextrin, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Methylisothiazolinone, Piroctone Olamine, Fragrance}

This created the perfect canvas for makeup application. My foundation applied smoothly and easily blended into my skin (as you know from my previous review - this is not my favorite foundation) This made the foundation perform much better than it does on it's own. I usually get creasing in my under eye area and patchiness in the center of my forehead and my nose. There was minimal creasing in my under eye area  and absolutely no patchiness on my nose! That's a miracle you guys, no matter what products I use or how I apply them the makeup on my nose always seems to get patchy and disappears throughout the day and I've been testing this out as a primer during my eight hour work days so I'm impressed and almost flabbergasted that it kept the foundation on my nose looking flawless. 

The second ingredient in this is Glycerin which acts as a binding agent which is unlike normal primers as other primers the makeup just sit's on top of the base. With this your makeup binds to the glycerin keeping it fabulous throughout your long work days.

For the price and the amount I don't think there's a better primer out there. So happy I gave into the hype on this one! I never would have even thought of using this as a primer, goes to show what you can discover if you just give something a try.

Have you guys tried this? Thoughts?

Bri

TOP 5 - Most Gorgeous Perfume Bottle Designs

The above are my top five favorite perfume bottle designs that I think would look stunning sitting a top any vanity. I didn't include any Marc Jacobs ones as I already created a post all about them.

As you can see I have a running theme with bows, I love bows. I think the Viktor&Rolf Bon Bon perfume is the cutest thing in the world as instead of featuring a bow on the bottle they designed the bottle to look like a bow!

Featuring; Vera Wang - Princess, Chloe, Thierry Mugler Angel, Viktor&Rolf Bon Bon, Kate Spade Walk On Air

Ready, Set, Gorgeous!

 

Are you ready, set, gorgeous?

COVERIGIRL'S Ready, Set, Gorgeous liquid foundation was the latest foundation I picked up in store as I had just recently ran out.

I've been using this for quite some time and I can't say I enjoyed it...of course, I'll continue to use it as I can't stand to waste product.

It's oil free which should have been a tip off that I wouldn't like it as I suffer with dry skin. Mind you I have tried other oil-free foundations that worked fine. It wasn't that this didn't work for it's purpose but it didn't work for me. This is supposedly billed for people with combination-oily skin of which I am neither.

 

I picked up shade 110 - Natural Ivory which is the second lightest shade in the range. It blends beautifully into the skin as you can see from above. In a few hours though I will have a large orange patch on the back of my hand, this oxidizes like no other foundation I've tried and no one wants to walk around looking like one of Willy Wonka's Oompa Loompas. I've had a couple of breakouts while using this foundation and I'm not normally one to break out ever but even when I stopped wearing it for a week I still got a breakout so I don't believe this had anything to do with it. 

It leaves a semi-matte natural finish on the skin and although it's a more mattifying foundation then I'm used to it did sit on my skin nicely with no clings to my various dry patches. 

It wasn't a horrible foundation but the biggest con and the only reason I wouldn't purchase it again is the oxidization. I'm sorry but I like my skin to be it's natural ivory white not a burnt orange.

Have you tried the Ready, Set, Gorgeous line? What are your thoughts?

Bri