Garnier Finishing Paste

When I went to Vancouver last year, I was going to try to carry on my bag, so I didn't bring any of my hair goop with me because I was worried about the liquids rule and I was unsure how my hair wax would go over. I figured I would just buy stuff in Vancouver and just leave it there. Turned out that my rolling bag was too big, so I ended up checking it anyway.

I needed something for my super short hair, so I took a trip with my mum to my old friend London Drugs to get supplies. (I needed more than just hair goop)

Funny thing, in Canada, all labeling is in English and French. Since I studied French in high school and grew up with it on all the packaging all my life, I was used to it, but I've been away from it for so long that I got out of the habit of automatically translating in my head. I couldn't figure out what everything was because all I could see was the French side! (one side is English, the other side is French) I found this funny and sad at the same time.

Anyway, this is a lovely product. It smells awesome, it doesn't dry stiff, doesn't make your hair crusty and leaves it soft. It worked really well with my short hair in that I could put it in to my wet hair and comb it into shape, and it would stay that way all day - even after it dried. I just recently used it when I did my Marilyn hair because I needed something to give me texture to help the curl happen, and it worked really, really well. This is great for short hair and keeping it smooth and in place, and it's excellent for adding texture to longer hair.

It smells great and works awesome. Two thumbs up.

Sexy Hair Soy Renewal

Sexy Hair Soy Renewal with Argan Oil

I've been a big fan of Argan Oil for a long time. Tristann uses it on my hair and it makes it so soft and lovely. She uses Moroccan Oil, not this product.

I received a free sample of this on one of my trips to Ulta and since I liked using Moroccan Oil, I was interested in trying it.

I love this product. It. Smells. FANTASTIC! It makes my hair so soft and considering the torture I put it through to get my wonderful baby blonde, it should be the consistency of straw, but it's not. Not only is the colour baby blonde, but it's soft like a baby's too. Did I mention how great it smells? Because it smells incredible. I fear that the smell alone would win me over even if the product was crap - it smells that good, but the product is good. It's not as good as Moroccan Oil, but it works. It's also half the price of Moroccan Oil and doesn't have as much Argan Oil as Moroccan Oil, and I don't have to buy it at the salon. Not that I'm against buying things at the salon, I'm just cheap. Ulta had a buy two get one half off on Sexy Hair products and I needed shampoo and conditioner, so I was able to get this bottle for eleven dollars. That was the main reason I bought this over Moroccan Oil, but I really do love it. It works as a cheaper version of Moroccan oil.

You only need a little - about the size of a quarter. I use about the size of a nickel because I have less hair. I totally recommend this product.

Perfect for removing Glitter Nail polish

I first read about this on the Nailed It blog. She mentioned that she gets hers at Target, but Target is far away from me, so I looked to see if I could find something similar closer to me.

I looked at my local Sally Beauty Supply, but no luck. The beauty section at my local Smith's Marketplace is pretty good and I get a lot of my nail stuff there. That's where I found this lovely thing.

The brush inside is exactly like the little brush you get from the hospital when you come home with your baby for scrubbing their scalp/washing their hair. It works perfectly when you use acetone for your remover. Follow the instructions; soak your nails for about 10 seconds, scrub on the brush, and *poof*, glitter all gone!

I love this. I can't tell you how much I hate removing glitter polish because of how it shreds my cotton balls. The sandpapery feeling I get trying to rub off the polish and the strings of the cotton balls makes me cringe so much. I have tried the technique with the cotton balls and tin foil that's all over pinterest, and that works like a charm, but it's so time consuming. The acetone evaporates quickly, but I just refill the jar when I need to with my giant bottle of acetone from Sally Beauty Supply - easy peasy, lemon squeezy. This little jar is my new best friend - now I can wear glitter more often!

Unfortunately, it doesn't work so hot for toes (for obvious reasons), so I use the tin foil method on my toes.

What’s been going on

Weight: 168

I gained a bit due to a caffeine binge, went off caffeine, went through withdrawals, lost a little, and feel better now. I’m trying to stay off the Dr. Pepper until Labour Day, and am hoping to stop drinking soda all together by the end of the summer.

I went on a nail polish buying fast for May and bought no new nail polish. As a reward, I bought 4 new colours – one Essie and three O.P.I. I bought the O.P.I. at my favourite place, ULTA, where I am a ‘member’. Turns out there was a buy two get one free deal going on, so I got 3 colours for $20.00! That made me very, very happy. I'm back on the fast and hope to continue through the summer.

I got a free sample of Sexy Hair’s Argan Oil with my purchase at ULTA. It smells incredible and I love it. It works great. I’ve been a Moroccan oil follower for years, so I’m wondering what the difference is. I’m getting my hair done tonight, so I’m going to ask Tristann. (She used to be a Big Sexy rep, and she is the one that turned me on to Moroccan oil, so she will know)

The centre where ULTA is located just had an H&M open up and are building a Gap and Old Navy. I am saving up my pennies over the summer and will reward myself with a shopping day if I’m a good girl.

I jumped on the BB Cream bandwagon, and after a few internet searches and magazine articles I have gained more of an understanding of how to use the product. I must say, I am very pleased.

I haven’t been to Yoga since the middle of April. Life keeps getting in the way and this is making me sad.

I got my craft room cleaned up and organized so I have room to create. I am so excited and hope to be able to work on some awesome projects over the summer.

DH was upset at me for spending $28.00 on nail polish exclaiming that I had more nail polish than I could use in a month. I haven’t counted, but I’m pretty sure I don’t have more than 60 bottles of nail polish. (60 equals one colour for toes, one for hands for 30 days in the month.) My response, however, was “challenge accepted. I will change my nail polish every day for a month and go through every colour I have.”  After we had this argument, life happened, and I went without colour for 3 days, so I haven’t started the challenge yet. We’ll see if I can put my money where my mouth is. I should be able to considering what a big mouth (literally and figuratively) I have.

I have been blonde for more than six months and I still love it. Six months is usually my limit when it comes to hair. I think the fact that I’m growing it out is helping with my tolerance level since even though I am keeping the colour, the style keeps changing.

That’s all for me. What’s going on with you?

Sally Hansen Nail Wraps

the red is Julep Ellen

Holy Freakin' COW! I love these nail wraps!

I had stayed away from these for a long long long time because I couldn't justify the cost of what I basically categorize as stickers. $8.50 for sixteen? I pay eight bucks for a bottle of nail polish and that can last me years. Why would I pay eight dollars for something that I won't even be able to use twice?

Well forget it. I love these. They were super easy to use, look awesome, lasted for a week, and were just as easy to remove as to apply. 

I very, very, truly, totally recommend these.

Nails and The Chamber of Secrets

Julep Halloween box

I ordered a Halloween Mystery box from Julep for $19.99. I LOOOVE me a Mystery Box!

Inside were three nail colours; two glitter pots – one blue, one purple, and some nail tattoos. I didn’t know there was such a thing as nail tattoos.

I didn’t have time with the preparation for Halloween and the carving of pumpkins and the in-laws visiting and Dewey’s eighth birthday for any Halloween themed nail art. It made me sad. “O well, next year”, I thought.

Last weekend we had our second snowfall. We’re having an early winter to make up for last year’s late one, I guess. Huey and DH were at Scout Camp, I had a training, and so Dewey spent the day at a friend’s house while it snowed all day long. I got home first, so after picking up Dewey we decided we were going to have some Mummy and Son time. I asked him what he wanted to do, and he suggested I paint my nails while he plays on the computer and we watch Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. We are currently reading the book – this is Dewey’s first time with the books and he loves them – and he wanted to refresh his memory on what happens in the movie.

Dewey’s so sweet – he thought of something we both would enjoy. He knows how much I enjoy painting my nails, so that’s why he chose that for me. I suggested he pick out my nail colours while I got the movie started. I had also let him pick my colours for his birthday, but didn’t have time to do the exact nail art I had planned and just went with one plain colour. Dewey likes to pick more than one nail colour and designs, etc. He likes me to be fabulous.

An aside – the other day, Dewey and DH were hanging out and DH asked Dewey “What’s your mother doing?” Dewey responded, “Painting her nails, what else?” as if I spend all my time painting my nails. I took massive offense to this as at that time I hadn’t sat down to paint my nails in over two weeks!! I had finally taken a minute to myself on a Sunday to do what I love best while everyone else was doing things they enjoyed, and I got mocked for it! Sheesh!!

The left hand is what he picked for his birthday, and the right is what he picked for our “time” together. He also picked out which glitter and which tattoos I used.

Left Hand

Left hand:

Pinky; Julep Morgan and purple Glitter

Ring finger; Julep Morgan, Julep Maggie polka dots, Essie Shine of the Times glitter top coat

Middle finger; Julep Taylor gradient to Julep Morgan, Essie Shine of the Times glitter top coat

Pointer finger; Julep Morgan gradient to Julep Taylor, Essie Shine of the Times glitter top coat (reverse of middle finger)

Thumb; Julep Maggie and purple glitter.

Right Hand

Right hand:

Thumb; Julep January with Essie Shine of the Times glitter top coat

Pointer; Julep January, skull and cross bones tattoo

Middle; Julep January, RIP tattoo

Ring; Julep January, Candelabra tattoo

Pinky; Julep January, purple glitter.

Dewey wanted me to do my whole hand with the red January underneath the purple glitter with the tattoos on top. I have issues with purple and red together, so I placated him with the pinky.

I have never tried a gradient look before and I love how it turned out! There will be many gradient looks coming in the future! I think it turned out really awesome. I also think the glitter turned out really cool. The glitter is really fine and easy to apply. There was no mess and glitter sticking to everything like I had envisioned.

Another thing is this manicure has lasted me all week. I did the manicure last Saturday night, and here it is Thursday and I’m just getting around to taking photos. I don’t know if it’s the new top coat that I bought, or if it’s the layers of polish. Last week, I used three thin coats instead of my usual two (sometimes I can even get away with one coat) and the manicure lasted for a week instead of the usual two days. I also let the manicure ‘cure’ for an hour while we watched the rest of Harry Potter. I suspect it’s a combination of the new top coat, letting the manicure harden, and more coats that have caused this manicure to last so long.

Weird. I thought that the more coats you put on the more easily it chips!

Polka Dot

You should see my toes!

After cruising websites like Nailasaurus and Julep and following Glo Nails, Lucky Nails, and The Beauty Dept on Pinterest and seeing so many fun tutorials on nail art, I decided to buy a toy and experiment.

I bought  a dotting tool that has a brush on the other end at Sally Beauty Supply. It was five bucks and totally worth it. It took me some time to get the hang of it, but I can't wait to play some more!!

The index finger kind of looks like I have the measles, but I love the rest.

I'm wearing Essie Limoscene for a base. The dots are Essie Licorice and Julep January.

Love, love, love this new toy!!

Polyvore

Polyvore is a website that lets you put outfits together. It’s fun, check it out.

I’ve known about it for some time, but was never quite able to figure it out until recently. Now I love it. It’s like playing paper dolls, but with clothes that have links to where to buy them!

I’m not much of an accessorizer (yes I made up a word), but with unlimited access to any kind of accessory that I can think of, I can accessorize the heck out of an outfit. I now can see why I wear the same accessories over and over. If I price out an outfit, sometimes the cost of the accessories can double the cost of the outfit! (or more, depending on the shoes and the bag) Plus, takes time.

The plus side:

1)      It has inspired me to sew. One of the things that I hate about shopping is that I have a hard time justifying the cost of some things because I know that I can make them for a fraction of the price.

2)      It has inspired me to design. I see a thing that I like, but the sleeve’s wrong, or there’s a detail that I’m not in love with, so I can use the thing as inspiration.

3)      It has inspired me to draft. Last Halloween I declared that we were no longer buying costumes; my mum and I made all my Halloween costumes and DH’s mum made all of his. I can make much better/cooler/more creative costumes. I bought a pattern drafting book to replace my textbook from college that I lost years ago, but had not used it. I dusted it off and made a new pattern block from scratch for myself since my body has changed considerably in the twenty-two years since college. I love drafting and making patterns. The measuring and the cutting and the truing… it’s all so soothing to my brain. I have my island in my kitchen cleared off, so it’s high enough that I don’t kill my back when making patterns.

4)      It inspires me to get my chores done so that I have time to play.

5)      I have discovered endless.com which is the fashion arm of amazon.com. They have the cutest stuff that I can’t make for myself and the prices are reasonable.

6)      I have discovered other sites with cute and fun stuff that I can save my pennies for and add to the things that I love.

7)      It’s like Pinterest where I can put together ensembles that I have floating around in my head. I can save them on Polyvore and refer to them when I’m ready to shop.

The down side:

1)      It makes me sad that I don’t have time to shop for fabric or sew or make patterns.

2)      It makes me want to spend money

3)      It makes me want to have all these outfits NOW.

4)      It makes me spend money because I. CAN’T. GET. THOSE. SHOES. OUT. OF. MY. HEAD!

5)      Needs and wants have become skewed.

6)      I hate all my current clothes and want my Polyvore closet!!

Overall, it’s a fun place to play and experiment with new looks and I really enjoy it. Here is a sample of a set I created on Polyvore. Try it out!

New Toys!!

Awhile ago, I read an article about environmentally friendly nail polish and came across Julep.

Emma, Taylor, Sandra, January, Maggie

Julep is a company based out of Seattle, so it stuck out to me as Seattle is very close to my heart. Julep Nail Color is “4-free” and does not contain formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, or DBP. Their website is chock full of fun fashiony things and have lots of tutorials on fun things to do with nail polish. I absolutely love their website.

I also follow them on Pinterest.

The only issue I have is that it’s $14.00 for a 0.27oz bottle of nail polish. I usually spend $8 -8.50 on a bottle of O.P.I. (0.5oz) or Essie (0.46oz) at the grocery store or beauty supply, so $14.00 seems a little steep to me.

If you join their mailing list, you can be a Julep Maven. I got an email last week that I could order a mystery box and get between $60.00 and $120.00 worth of product for $20.00. That seemed like a pretty awesome deal (like, DUH), and I hadn’t used any of their products and I wanted to support a North American company so I took advantage of the deal and ordered a mystery box.

I.Could. Not. Wait. I was so excited to see what I would get. It’s so fun getting presents in the mail!

I got my box this week and eagerly opened it.

Looks like I got my money’s worth, eh?

The five bottles of nail colour alone are worth $98.00. Not bad for 20 bucks.

I haven’t tried everything yet, but I did my nails yesterday – colour only – no base coat or topcoat or anything and I am in love. The periwinkle colour is my favourite and it’s not something that I would have thought to buy on my own. The red is the perfect classic red, and I don’t have one of those. The consistency of the paint is thick enough that you could almost get away with one coat on all of the colours – even the grape purple colour. The polish is shiny enough that a topcoat is not necessary, but I suspect that it will look even better with the topcoat. The brush in the bottle is wide and the polish spreads evenly when you paint it on.

Maggie, January, Sandra, Taylor, Emma

As mentioned earlier, my only concern is the cost - $14.00 plus shipping = not my cup of tea – but I will definitely take advantage of all future deals and I totally recommend this product.

I give this a 9 out of 10 fingers score.

Maybelline long wear lipstick

I am not much of a lipstick wearer. The reasons why are plentiful:

1) My lips peel constantly, so I am forever chewing on my lips, thus wearing off the lipstick.

2) I don’t have much occasion to spend in front of the mirror, so when I’m out in public, I like to just wear lipgloss, then I don’t have to worry about my lipstick being half worn off.

3) I have big lips. To quote my friend Tristann, “We big lipped girls don’t like to attract too much attention to our mouths”. That’s not exactly completely the case, I’m mostly too lazy to be constantly maintaining my lip colour.

4) I do, sometimes, worry about drawing too much attention to my mouth for fear it's not properly made up. It’s constantly moving what with the talking and chewing and drinking water, so I can never be quite sure how the state of my lip colour is fairing.

Big Mouth

I tend to stick with neutral colours that don’t show that they have faded or worn off. I also tend to stick with lipgloss so that it’s easy to reapply without a mirror.

When I worked in retail in the early 90’s, I wore red lipstick every day. There were mirrors on the walls, in the dressing room area, and in our stock room. I was always able to monitor the state of my lips, and re-application was completely within my grasp, so wearing a non-neutral was totally do-able. Now that I sit at a desk all day, I don’t have that luxury.

In the mid 90’s, long wearing lipstick became very popular. I tried several brands, but all were very drying and my already dry and peeling lips became ESPECIALLY extra dry and peeling lips.

Earlier this winter, I was able to have some rare me time and went shopping. I wandered in to a store called Ulta. It’s like stepping inside a Sephora. The minute I opened the door, choirs of angels sang out, the light descended and I was floating on a cloud. I just had to stand there for a minute and take in the awe of it all. It was like being welcomed home.

I was looking for a mauve coloured lipstick and a chocolate colour. I happened to pick up this 24 hour lip colour. Since it was a deal, I didn’t feel guilty about wasting my money on something that didn’t work out. The mauve colour is more of a dark wine, and the chocolate is more mocha, but that’s okay, the colours both look good and I’m so pleased with this product.

Maybelline Super Stay 24-hour Color lip colour in Consant Cocoa

I wore the wine colour to Thanksgiving knowing that I would have access to a mirror and be able to ensure that I wasn’t committing any lipstick worn off crimes. The colour DID. NOT. BUDGE. Thanksgiving is the ultimate test for a long wearing lip colour, wouldn’t you think? I didn’t take it off that night (too tired, stop gasping, Mum, sometimes I go to bed without washing my face – it’s okay, I’m still a good person). The next morning, the lip colour was exactly where it was supposed to be. No smudging, nothing. It was like I had just put it on.

The way it works is that there are two ends. One with the colour, the other with a moisturizing lip balm. You paint on the colour, let it dry, then put the lip balm over top. I love it because I can re-apply the lip balm as much as I want without ruining the lip colour. My lips stay moisturized, and my colour stays put. I. LOVE. IT.

The one trick is to make sure that your lips are sufficiently exfoliated, dried off, and naked. I am in the habit of wearing lip balm under my lipstick and one cannot apply the colour with anything on one’s lips or the colour won’t take nor will it apply smoothely.

I have never been more pleased with a lip colour in my life. I am so happy that I ran across it.