100th Post Highlights!

I can't believe I'm reaching my 100th post on this blog! That's crazy! So for this post I thought it would be fun to do something a little different. I took the time to read through all of my 99 posts and found every single random thing I have ever said...and I've compiled them all for you. I'm not even going to tell you what post they are from, I'm just going to let you read all of my random at once. Enjoy.

"Then you can either lick it off (it has all natural ingredients, so it is perfectly safe to eat the entire thing if you want...I wouldn't recommend it, but each to their own)"  
This out of context just sounds...wrong. 

"Needless to say, I bought it (well, obviously...I'm not just taking pictures of this in the store)."
Wow, I was sassy back then.

"I'll justify it by saying I bought them for blogging purposes."
I think this is the catchphrase of the entire blogging world. 

"Oops, false alarm, EcoTools is back! ...(Disclaimer- I am in no way sponsored by EcoTools) "
Thought I should probably add that ;)

" I have that feeling right now that I could accomplish anything! (Well, maybe not anything.)"


"I usually just get Starbucks and sneak it in (shhhh...) (I can't tell you how many drinks I've spilled in my purse)."
Does anybody else do this in movie theaters?

"Silver eyeshadow does not suit you, you are allowed to use more than one eyeshadow on your eyelid, and yes, foundation does go on your face. Ok, that's three, but you get my drift. I wish I knew then what I know now (Katy Perry lyrics!!)"
...what?

"I can just imagine sitting in a Starbucks with this on your nails, sipping a Pumpkin Spice Latte (I cannot wait for those to come back in stores!) and reading a book or something."
You can't tell me that I'm the only one who ever has Starbucks fantasies.

"Haven't been bothered to get dressed yet (hey, it's summer vacay!) (did I really just say vacay?)"
Yes, apparently I did.

"I grew up with the Sound of Music (doe a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun...ok, I'll stop)."
Spontaneous sing a long!

"Isn't it cool looking? Well, maybe I'm the only one who thinks that."
This is the subtext in a lot of my blog posts.

"It isn't super obvious, like a whole bunch of sparkle on your face, but it subtly makes your face glow."
No, this isn't in reference to Twilight.

"Because I bet the entire internet wants to see a picture of my hand. You're welcome, Internet."

"I never liked it before (I can't handle any gore at all), but now I can't stop watching it!! It doesn't hurt that there are some very attractive guys in it..."
My justification for watching most things, actually.

"Ok, I just totally realized saying the name of this polish out loud, that "OPI Goldeneye" totally rhymes!! Anyway, totally off topic.

I also just realized that I said "totally" three times in that sentence."

I lead an exciting life.

"It smells sort of...plasticky (definitely not a word)"

You would be surprised how often I make up words in my blog posts.

"I think I own 9 now? Yep, nine. Believe me, I totally needed every one! (A very apparent attempt to justify having 9 lip balms of the exact same color...what can I say? They smell really good!)"

"It literally looks like cupcake sprinkles on my fingernails."

"A couple of pics to show the duochromeyness (definitely not a word.)"

Told you.

"You know, sometimes you just have to wear glitter. There, I said it."

"Well, I would love to argue that I "need" all the makeup I have, but in reality, I should be on the TV show Hoarders."

"Life's too short to worry every night about what you're going to wear. Might as well worry seven times as much, all at once."

"This claims to give "crazy volume", and it does give volume (though I'm not sure I would admit it to a mental hospital- get it? Because it's not actually that crazy...? Ok, moving on.) "

"Best of both worlds! Great, now the Hannah Montana song is stuck in my head. "

"I bought it under the recommendation of my friend, or as she put it, "You buy it, and then I will read about it on your blog." Cool."

"Let's break it down! (Ok, that sounded way more gangster than I intended it to. You know what I mean. I meant we should break down the aspects of the product.)"



Ok, so that just about sums up 99 blog posts of random! Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me through all my weird ramblings! 

Here's to another 100 posts!


Melissa

Review: Maybelline Color Tattoo in Seashore Frosts

This eyeshadow was literally the most elusive eyeshadow I have ever had to deal with. As soon as reviews of this started hitting the blogosphere, I started keeping my eyes out for it in stores. It was about three weeks before I spotted Maybelline's Summer collection display at Shoppers Drug Mart. They had the other Color Tattoo shades, but not this one. This is the only one I wanted; it was the most hyped about. So I called all drugstores in my city and they all had a similar story- that they had received this collection and Seashore Frosts had sold out quickly, and that they weren't getting anymore in. So I turned to the internet. After lots of searching, I finally found this sucker (brand new) on ebay. After paying twice the price and a week a waiting, this bad boy finally arrived. 

Seashore Frosts is probably the most talked about colour for the summer. It is a gorgeous duochrome blue-gold-green shade. It was so worth the wait. 

In the picture above, you can see more of the gold with a hint of blue, but in the next picture, I tried to capture more of the blue. 

See how pretty it is?

Formula wise, it isn't the greatest. It isn't as long wearing as the color's in the rest of the line. And the main issue I have with this shade is that it isn't that buildable. It doesn't pack a huge punch on the eyelid with just one layer, but when you try to add more, it won't spread easily. The duochrome sort of translates onto the lid, but I wish I could build it up more. 

Here's some swatches of this shade. I tried my best to capture the duochrome, but it is sort of difficult to get on camera. 

You can sort of see here the gold turning into the blue.

And this picture here is more gold, while the one after is more blue.

All in all, I highly recommend checking this color out. It's so unique, and it really isn't too vibrant on the eye, so it can look natural.

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

NOTD: Essie Tart Deco

Essie Tart Deco

Guys, it finally happened. After four months and 26 days, I finally cracked and...bought another nail polish. Words can not describe how proud of myself I was for not buying any nail polish for that long. But I was browsing my local Shopper's Drug Mart and I saw that Essie was on sale from $11 CAD to $7 CAD, so I gave in and bought this shade I have been eyeing for awhile now.

In the bottle, Tart Deco appears to be a light coral. It doesn't translate like that on the nail, which I was sort of disappointed about. On the nails, this dries much darker and much more orange. The best way I can think to describe this is that instead of coral, it is much more salmon orange. And darker. It's a nice colour, but it wasn't really the colour I was looking for.

The formula on this was pretty good. The coats came on quite thick, but it was self levelling, so no streaks are visible. I needed two coats for full opacity. 

The brush on this was kind of awkward. I own other Essie polishes with better brushes, so I don't know if it was just this colour or what. But it had a really wide end, and the bristles would spread out way too far. 

All in all, not my favourite colour. It's a nice colour if salmon is what you're looking for, but I wanted more coral. I wish it dried the bottle shade. Ah well. It's still a nice summery colour.

Thanks for reading!!!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Master Duo Liquid Liner in Black Lacquer

I bought this liner after my Line Stiletto liner (also from Maybelline) dried up. I had heard good things about this liner, so I thought I would give it a shot. However, I had heard that only the black colour was good; that the blue, purple, etc were too watery. But I would only go for black anyway, so that wasn't an issue.

There were only a couple of shades available. There was a black, but it only came in one form (no "black", "very black", or "blackest black"), Black Lacquer. There was also a blue and a violet, and maybe one other colour? I'm not too sure. 

Unfortunately, this wasn't on sale when I bought it, but I was desperate, so I paid the full $13 bucks for it. That's a little outrageous for a drugstore liner, but oh well.

I really like the bottle of this. It's sleek looking. It's in the inkwell format, which a lot of other liners are in too. You screw of the top and the brush is attached to the lid.

The concept for this liner is pretty cool. It's meant to be a double liner (hence the name duo liner). One side of the brush is flat, and using that side, you are able to get a thick line on your eyelid. But when you rotate the wand 90 degrees, you are able to get a thin line. It's super easy to do winged liner with this!

This is the thick side of the brush.

And this is the thin side!

The formula for this is pretty good. It isn't thin or watery and it glides on pretty easily. I don't find myself having to go over a second time to get a rich black line. As with most liquid liners, you do have to shake it before use. 

The only issue I have with this is getting it off at night time. It's really tricky to remove, and it takes quite a bit of effort. 

Here a swatch to show the difference between the thin line and the thick line. 

Final Verdict:

Honestly, I don't like this liner as much as I like my Line Stiletto liquid liner. The Line Stiletto is easier to remove than this one.

This is a good liner, it's just not my favourite. 

I find the brush slightly awkward and it's sort of difficult to get an even line. It was much easier with the Line Stiletto.

This is a cool concept though, but I do recommend it for people with more experience applying liquid liner.

I will say though, that the formula on this one is very good. No complaints there.

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

Review: Maybelline Rocket Volum' Express Mascara

Hi! Sorry it's been so long between posts. I've been so busy!

Anyway, today's review is of a mascara that has been much raved about in the beauty community. It's the Maybelline Rocket Volum' Mascara in Blackest Black (non waterproof). Since I was in the market for a new mascara, I thought I would give it a shot.

Let's break it down! (Ok, that sounded way more gangster than I intended it to. You know what I mean. I meant we should break down the aspects of the product.)

The Packaging:

Ok, I LOVE the packaging. The pink and blue tube is just way too cute. It's very fun and bright, and it will easily stand out in your makeup drawer. 

It isn't too bulky that it's hard to get a grip on the tube; it's the perfect size.

The Brush:

Before you dip the brush into the product for the first time, it looks really awesome. 

For starters, it's pink. Adorable. You can see that it has a thin core and lots of long plastic bristles extending out from that. 

The brush isn't too long that it won't fit your eye. It's a really good size, but I will say that if you're not careful, those bristles will poke you in the eye. And that HURTS.

This is what the brush looks like after you dip in the product.

You get a lot of product on there!

The Formula:

First off, when they say Blackest Black, they ain't kidding. This is probably the richest and blackest mascara I have ever used. It's pure black, and it looks AMAZING.

This is fairly wet formula, wetter than I'm used to using. Because of that, yes, it does clump fairly easily. That being said, it doesn't clump until the third or fourth coat. But the clumps never make your lashes look spidery, like some mascaras do. They just make your lashes stick together. 

This mascara claims to give you 8x the volume, which is a pretty big claim. It definitely does give good volume, but not 8x. In fact, this gives better volume than any other mascara I've used. And it really does a good job in the lengthening department. 

But where it shines, is in separating your lashes. If you just stick to two coats of this, the long bristles comb through your lashes beautifully. It looks awesome. 

It also holds a curl very very well,

The Results:

Let's take a look at what it did for my lashes, huh?

Before-no mascara

 After-with mascara

Overall: 

I LOVE the way this makes my lashes look. It is a little tricky to remove, but it is so worth it. I really recommend this mascara.

This retails for about $10 CAD at any drugstore. 

Thanks for reading!

Melissa

Review: ELF Studio Blush in Tickled Pink

Hi guys, sorry I've been so absent lately. I got a part time job and I have a lot less free time now!

Anyways, today's post is a quick review from one of my favourite line of blushes, ELF Studio Blushes.

These are some of the most raved about blushes, because they are so inexpensive and really high quality.

I have the shade Tickled Pink, which is a very pretty light dusty pink. This is a matte blush. In some lights it can look cool toned, in other's more warm.

I chose this shade on ELF's website because it looked like the lightest one there, and I am very pale. I was right, it is very light, so there is a chance it may not show up on you if you have a darker skin tone. 

The pigmentation is good, it's just such a light shade, that it can be tricky to make it show up. But I know the rest of the line has some darker colours if that would be what you are looking for.

These retail for $3 on ELF's website, or in some stores.

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa

Nail Tutorial: Ombre Nails!!

So ombre is a huge trend this summer. It's everywhere- hair, clothes, shoes, and now, my nails!!
This is the first time I've ever done ombre nails, so this is not going to be the high tech tutorial ever. But I thought I would just share my method for doing them!

So if you want to see how I got the look below, keep on reading!!

Ok, yes I am aware this isn't the best looking ombre ever, but for a first attempt, I'm pretty proud of it. Alright, let's jump into the "tutorial"!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

The Polishes:

Ok, from the left, I have base coat and top coat, obviously. Then the third polish is what I'm using for a base colour. I would highly recommend using a white or light cream/pink polish to use as a base for your ombre, because that makes all the colours pop a lot more. I'm using OPI's My Vampire Is Buff.

Then the last polishes are my ombre colours. The colours blend more smoothly together if you use three colours instead of two, and the ombre looks more gradual. I stuck with colours in the same colour family for my first try. For the lightest colour (third from the right), I'm using China Glaze Hopeful. My medium colour (second from right) is China Glaze Flirty Tankini, and my darkest colour is China Glaze Make Some Noise.

The Tools:

You will also need some clear tape and a makeup sponge to paint the colours on.

HOW I DID IT:

Step 1:

So first and foremost, you can paint your nails with base coat, if you want to use it. I always do, it's just a habit.

But then you're going to paint on your white/cream/pink base. Side note: if your lightest colour is a white/cream/light pink, then you can just use that as your base. 

Don't worry if it's not completely opaque.

my base colour- OPI My Vampire is Buff

Step 2:

Once your base colour is completely dry (it needs to be dry so your ombre will stay on), take your clear tape and tape around each nail until the skin around each nail is covered by tape. This is a really messy process and the polish will get everywhere, so this step just saves a lot of cleanup.

So I covered the sides, bottom and top of my thumb. Sorry if this is kind of hard to see. But basically when I press the sponge down on my nail, the polish that isn't getting on my nail will be getting on the tape.

This is an incredibly awkward angle, but I just wanted you to see all my fingers taped up. I did it one hand at a time, so I taped one hand, then did the ombre pattern on that hand, then taped the other hand.

Step 3:

So now we arrive at the fun part. So your base colour is dry, and you're all taped up. So take your makeup sponge, and depending which colour you want at the base of your nail, paint the polishes on accordingly. In other words, if you want the darkest colour on the base of the nail and the lightest on the top, the paint a stripe of your darkest colour at the top of the sponge. 

I wanted the darkest at the base of my nail, so here's how I painted my sponge.

The darkest is at the very top of the sponge, so when I press it on my nail, it will go at the base of my nail. 

Wait a second or two to lets the polishes sort of absorb into the sponge and blend better together.

So angling the sponge so all your colours line up where you want them on the nail, press down and make sure you're getting all your colour on there.

This is one coat of the ombre. After each nail, I repaint all the colours onto the sponge so it will be freshly painted for the next nail. I did two coats of ombre for every nail, because after only one coat, the colours aren't super strong. 

So this is one hand after two coats of ombre and BEFORE clean up!!

Told you it gets messy!!

Step 4:

Clean up time! Peeling off the tape gets rid of most of the excess polish, but depending on how precise you were with your taping, you might end up with some polish around your nail. When that happens, I take a nail polish remover pad and put some nail polish remover in the center. Then I fold it in half, and use the folded edge to remove any leftover polish. 

And here's the finished look!!

Sorry for the chip on my index finger, I accidentally hit it when I took the tape off. 

But anyway, I hope this tutorial was helpful! I know I'm not a nail art expert (that can be clearly seen), but I thought I would share how I did this anyway.

Thanks for reading!!

Melissa