Nail Me! It's Hump Day! Zoya - Mia

After six glorious weeks of reds, darks and glitters I felt like I needed something easy to wear (and easy to remove!!) so I chose Zoya Mia. It's a really beautiful dusty rose cream with average Zoya wear (I think Zoya wears better than OPI - I get several days with no tip wear and zero chips, but once in awhile some peeling). I love grabbing for this colour when I'm just not sure what to go for. It's there, but not too obvious. I'd probably chose this for a job interview.

Welcome 2012

     I have to admit, 2011 was somewhat lacking in the excitement department. A few close friends got married, but no real life changing events happened to me. I am really hoping that 2012 brings something more notable. After almost six years with the SO I am hoping that I get a ring sometime this year (although I have to say I don't hold my hopes too high on this one). But, a girl can dream. Along with some personal goals, I've made a few beauty goals I would like to share with you guys.

Make 2012 a reduced buy year.

     I fully admit that I hop willingly on to the limited edition/hyped product/it's new "I have to buy it now train." Thanks to this train I have more make up than I can ever use up in a life time. What I mean by a "reduced buy" is basically a no buy with the opportunity to grab something that REALLY captures my attention. I am allowed to repurchase any "staples" that I run out of (ie - it's possible my Benefit High Beam will run out this year, so I will be allowed to repurchase that). Any LE products that are REALLY unique to my collection and I will actually USE often can be put up for consideration. I'm not giving myself a number because I think if I tell myself I can have, say five products I will likely buy five products just to fill my self-imposed quota. So far nothing has really caught my eye besides the MAC for Iris Apfel lipstick in Flamingo and Zoya Fleck Effect collection. I'm going to swatch Flamingo in store and see if it really is different from all 24,783,874,738,958 pink lipsticks I own. And what that means for poor regular line products... NO! JUST NO!!!! It hurts me a little bit to say that this means Naked2 will be waiting until 2013. I have SO MANY eye shadows/blushes/highlighters/lipsticks/nail polishes/shower gels that I just DON'T need anymore until I've used some up. I'm hoping this resolution forces me to rediscover old favorites.

265 posts. Minimum.

     I am a terrible blogger. I blog. I forget to blog. I blog again and repeat. I love blogging. It makes me feel good inside, so why don't I do it more often? No idea. I guess life just gets busy and gets away from me. With the ability to blog from even my iPhone though, there is zero excuse. I don't even have to put make up on to blog (wayyyyy easier than YouTube). I'm hoping with the using of old (ok - ancient) products I will have a lot to post about. I will also keep trying to go with some of the themes I was using before I got attacked by the virus monster in December.

2012 is to be the year of the skin.

     Let's face it - it's nice when you can leave the house with no foundation. Good skin also makes make up look a lot nicer. I've often been really good about my skin care routine in the morning and not so good with it in the evening (BAD!!!) which has lead to me having dull blah problematic skin. I told myself I could purchase some of my favorite skin care products and my Clarisonic if I broke this habit - So far I've done fairly well (I've also promised myself some Exfolikate on Black Friday if I keep it out throughout the year). I do already have some HG skin care products, but everything else I feel fairly MEH about. But, I will make sure to post about ALL of the skincare products I try (as well as my Clarisonic once I've used it for awhile).

     Those are all of my beauty resolutions. I look forward to making 2012 an amazing year!!!

If You Blog, They Will Follow

So, after doing such a good job of keeping up with my blog and Twitter I went and got super sick and had to take some time off to take care of myself. I have so many things to review in the new year! I'm so excited (thanks to Santa for bringing me a ton of Sephora gift cards!). Some things to look forward in the next week and the new year: Clarisonic Mia, Sephora Lash Stash set, Ole Henriksen products, Quo nail polishes, Urban Decay Lush Lash system and other fantastic gift sets!

I've also had to start a gallbladder diet, which means I really need to change up my eating habits. I'm trying to eat my way through the "no longer allowed" foods before I start going all for it, but once I've settled into my new way of eating I will do a post on that too.

Also, completely not beauty related, but my new obsession worth note - Dyson vacuum!! My mom got it for hubby and I for Christmas and it's freaking ridiculous. I went through my house with my old vacuum and then over it a second time with my Dyson and had to empty the canister 3 times!!!! AMAZING!

I Have No Self Control - Pic Heavy

     Do you ever find a product, take it home, swatch it and then run back to the store like a crazy woman to purchase eighty thousand more? I don't do that often - in fact, I think the last time I did that was a year or two ago when MAC brought out my perfect lip stick shade as a limited edition (Laugh A Lot).

     The Revlon Lip Butters were instant love. I knew they would probably sell like hot cakes once the beauty community learned that they were available in Canada already. So, after my blog post yesterday I ran back to London Drugs and then went back a THIRD time to get all the colours I wanted... Obsessed much?

     I really have no complaints about this product though. After wearing Berry Smoothie yesterday I found them to be relatively moisturizing. I think they wear for approximately the same amount of time as a MAC lustre. My only complaint is that I find it difficult to "draw inside the lines" with the shape of these. I have a really defined cupids bow so I tend to prefer a classic lipstick shape.

Top L-R: Raspberry Pie, Red Velvet Cake
Bottom L-R: Cotton Candy, Sweet Tart

Top L-R: Pink Truffle, Creme Brulee
Creamsicle

     So, now I am the proud owner of - count 'em - eleven freaking lip butters. I don't need eleven of them, but I think I'll get my use out of them. That being said - I've placed a lip product ban on 2012. The colours I've purchased now consist of: Strawberry Shortcake, Peach Parfait, Berry Smoothie, Candy Apple, Red Velvet Cake, Raspberry Pie, Cotton Candy, Sweet Tart, Pink Truffle, Creme Brûlée, and Creamsicle.

Red Velvet Cake

     Red Velvet Cake scares me a little to be honest. While I tend to be a red/pink/berry lip girl and really bright lip makes me uncomfortable. This is a warmer burgundy type red and, while it's beautiful, it might take a couple of drinks to get me to wear it in public. It is a nice shade on my pale skin with yellow undertones though and it stains like CRAZY so I might try it as a stain with some lip balm.

Red Velvet Cake

Raspberry Pie

     Raspberry Pie looks just like a raspberry in the tube. I found though that it both swatched and applied much more hot pink than bright berry (think a nice dark ripe raspberry vs a cooked down red one). Probably I won't get a ton of use out of this one.

Raspberry Pie

Cotton Candy

     Cotton Candy on the other hand has probably slipped into my top two shades! This is exactly what I wanted to get out of Strawberry Shortcake. Much like SS, CC is a barely there, wear with anything pink. The difference (which makes it look a lot better on me) is that it runs a lot more neutral to warm. I also find it less milky than SS which is also a big plus in my books.

Cotton Candy

Sweet Tart

     Sweet Tart is one that I avoided on my first outings and picked up, put back and picked up again on my final trip. It is a bright pink, which scared me a little after seeing swatches of Lollipop but I do believe this one is wearable. Sweet Tart is reminiscent of MAC's Lustering which is another favorite lipstick of mine. I would describe this as a slightly blue toned neutral mid to bright pink.

Sweet Tart

Pink Truffle

     Pink Truffle is one I had no interest in before swatching it in store (FYI - Berry Smoothie, Strawberry Shortcake, Pink Truffle and Creme Brûlée seem to be the standard in store testers). Not surprisingly this is a pink based brown. Typically I stay away from brown lips because they just don't appeal to me, but the rose undertone in this makes it pretty. I'm really excited to create a look using Pink Truffle as the star.

Pink Truffle

Creme Brulee

     Creme Brûlée is one I actually didn't care much for even after swatching. I'm not sure what possessed me to pick it up (I was in frantic shopping mode) but I did and I'm glad. This is a light neutral brownish colour. In the tube it reminds me of light brown sugar. But on the lips it looks really attractive. I have fairly dark pigmented lips to begin with and I think Creme Brûlée neutralizes them a bit without being scary.

Creme Brulee

Creamsicle

     Finally, I grabbed Creamsicle based solely on the recommendation from Elise (BubbleGumPrincess) on YouTube. Well, I'll just say that based on her videos our skin tones and colouring are similar, but OMG this is a hot mess on me. I was hesitant when I picked it up, but I thought it would go on kind of sheer. I was wrong. It's a milky orange - think a creamsicle that has melted and the orange Popsicle is mixed with the vanilla ice cream. I can picture it looking nice on someone with different colouring than me, but I think the combination of my pigmented lips and the tone of my skin make this really awful on me.

Creamsicle

     Finally I'm finished! I promise no more Lip Butter posts for awhile!! I'll summarize by saying I think these Lip Butters are wearable and workable. It's easy to get a light wash of colour or to build it up and get something more dramatic. For my personal taste and skin tone I'd say Berry Smoothie, Cotton Candy, Peach Parfait, Sweet Tart and Creme Brûlée are your must haves. If you could only get two, I'd recommend Berry Smoothie as your natural looking one and Sweet Tart for a more noticeable lip.

Top L-R: Berry Smoothie, Peach Parfait, Creme Brulee
Bottom L-R: Cotton Candy, Sweet Tart

   

Friday Faves: Revlon Lip Butters (IN CANADA?!)

     So I'll admit it - this is more of a first impressions review than a technical favorite post. However, even though I've only had these babies in my hot little hands for about four hours I've been playing with them and I can tell they will become quick staples!!! A big thanks to Dani at Call it Beauty for tipping me off that these Revlon Lip Butters had found their way into some London Drugs!

     I'm a big believer that a lipstick is a lipstick is a lipstick - whether the cheapest drug store brand or the most expensive department store brand. Sure, there are variations in formulation, pigmentation and longevity, but I find these are more across the board for certain COLOURS than certain brands.

     So far I am really impressed with these lip butters. I think they wear a lot like MAC Lustres (which are my favorite). They have a great colour pay off and leave a nice sheen on the lip. I have a lot of trouble wearing lip products other than lip balms in the winter, and I'm hoping these will solve my moisture problems... that doesn't sound quite right - but you catch my drift. I can't say if these wear for a long time or if they really keep lips moisturized, but I will be sure to update when I figure it out!!

     Luckily for me, they had all the shades available when I went to LD this morning. I am impressed with the colour range - there are very wearable neutrals, pinks, corals, reds and browns (which I'm sure you've all seen online anyways!) I picked up four and I'm already regretting not buying a few other shades...

L-R: Strawberry Shortcake, Peach Parfait, Berry Smoothie, Candy Apple

Top L-R: Strawberry Smoothie, Peach Parfait
Bottom L-R: Berry Smoothie, Candy Apple

Strawberry Smoothie

     Strawberry Smoothie is probably my LEAST favorite of the bunch, which is odd because I often go for pinks like this. I think it leans just slightly too cool for my skin tone. It's a nice barely there pink though. Slightly lighter than MAC's Lovelorn. I'm a bit sad because I was so looking forward to this one, but the others more than make up for it!

Strawberry Smoothie

Peach Parfait

     I am SO in love with Peach Parfait. It's one of those easy to wear colours. It looks a little peach on the lips, but it's not SO orange based that it looks kind of scary. This is what I was hoping Strawberry Shortcake would be. I would say this one leans a little more warm toned, but I could see some cooler toned people pulling it off too. I would say this is one of the must have shades.

Peach Parfait

Berry Smoothie



     I freaking love Berry Smoothie. If I could only have one lip butter, this would be it. A single swipe of this shade gives me a really nice "my lips but better" look. It's really easily buildable and several swipes gives you a really gorgeous (and wearable) berry colour. I have a feeling this will one day be one of those cult colours that you can't find anywhere. I'm resisting the urge to go and buy 77 back ups...

Berry Smoothie



Candy Apple

     This is another really nice shade. Applied it IS a pretty insanely bright red, but with a little blotting you can turn it into a really beautiful lip stain. One swipe without blotting is a bright, slightly orange based red and several swipes gives you a crazy bright lip. I'm not particularly comfortable with a bright lip, so I doubt I'll wear it like that, but it's still really wearable for me! So, that being said - girls who don't like a bright lip - don't be afraid of Candy Apple! You can make it work!

Candy Apple

Well, those are my first impressions. I'm disappointed that I didn't grab Red Velvet Cake and Sweet Tart. I hope you guys have some luck finding these in your local London Drugs! I'm glad they're here in Canada before the rumored February launch. I should also mention I was REALLY surprised that the Canadian retail price is only $7.99 on these. I thought it would be a lot more! 

November Loves

     First things first - how is it already December!?!??!?!? November just FLEW by. It was supposed to be my "weed through the closets and storage room and throw crap out" month, but apparently that never got a chance to happen.

     I tend to have a pretty blah November make up routine. I LOOOOVE Halloween and fall so I tend to be going out a lot more often in October and I just kind of get tired of make up (well... sort of). This month is cruel to my skin and it's not QUITE time for holiday looks, but it's beyond those nice warm fall looks.

     I feel like my favorites this month are pretty random. Oh well. I will begin with nail polishes. After wearing a ton of browns, greens and oranges in the fall I've kind of fallen head over heels for metallics and glitters. I'm craving red and green glitters, but just couldn't justify them until the beginning of December.



L-R: China Glaze - Material Girl, OPI - French Quarter for Your Thoughts, OPI - Warm & Fozzy, Revlon - Copper Penny



     So I admit that two of these polishes came into my life just last week, but for the whole beginning of November I rotated Copper Penny and French Quarter. Since I received Material Girl and W&F I've had one or the other of those on my fingers!

     I posted last Friday about my total cream shadow obsession. These two shades I've been wearing faithfully throughout November. If you didn't see my cream shadow post - these two may look identical in the pot, but swatched the Benefit is a lot darker where as the MAC shade is more of a shimmery metallic barely there.

L-R: Benefit - Foiled, MAC - Morning Frost

     This is totally random, but I've been loving my BioOil. My hair is really long so it gets really dry and frizzy once the colder months begin. So, to keep my hair silky I put this in the ends of my hair on the evening before I wash it (I'm a morning washer). It makes your hair look really greasy and nasty while it's in there, but once I've washed it out my hair feels like I've just had a trim!

     I have to go scent free Monday to Friday, so when the weekend comes I LOVE smelling nice! I've actually been loving three different BBW scents this November, but sadly I am all out of Cozy Autumn Vanilla. I bought a bottle of the lotion for my mom for Christmas, but I'm almost thinking I may steal it... Winter Candy Apple is the perfect "bridging" scent for me from fall to the holidays. The apple makes it fall appropriate and the musky sweetness makes it holiday ready! Finally, one that I love all year round - Dark Kiss. This one is a raspberry vanilla musk scent. BBW's best IMO.

     Finally, I've been in love with MAC's Sheen Supreme lipstick in Bare Again. They remind me a lot of the lustres only with more colour. This is also a shade that my bestie picked out for me. I typically go for pinks, usually blue based, so going shopping with her pulls me out of my comfort zone. Bare Again is described at a pinky neutral beige, so really it's not THAT far out of my comfort zone, but I'm working on it! The warmth of the brownish undertone makes this more fall appropriate.

MAC Sheen Supreme - Bare Again

     A few total randoms - BBW Leaves Wallflowers. How did I live before these?? New Lord John book by Diana Gabaldon released. I haven't got it yet (it's in the mail) but I am excited to read it!!!! The faux fur lines hoodies I grabbed at Old Navy. They're SO WARM (although they make you look a bit like a marshmallow). No more freezing in movies for me.

Nail Me, It's Hump Day: Warm & Fozzy

     If you would have said to me two years ago that I would one day wear brown polishes, I probably would have laughed at you. But then it all started with chocolate brown with gold, then chocolate creams, then chocolate milks, and THEN Warm & Fozzy.

     Warm & Fozzy is from the (realitively) new OPI Muppets collection. After stalking many a blog swatch of this colour I decided it would be nice to have, but wasn't a must. Shimmery mid-toned brown? Been there, done that. I slowly but surely made it to my local mall and promptly found the Muppets collection - sans Warm & Fozzy. I was able to see a swatch of W&F at that display and realized why it was sold out. Apparently I didn't get the memo that this colour is AMAZING.

     So, I spent the afternoon driving all over the city and desperately digging through OPI Muppets displays to no avail. After a world of disappointment, I had an epiphany in the grocery store - Nail Polish Canada. I'd never ordered from them before, but this was a life or death situation. Off side topic - Order from Nail Polish Canada! They have the most AMAZING customer service I've ever experienced and the shipping was INCREDIBLY fast. Even after adding something on to my order, it took 36 hours from order placed to arriving at the door. YAY Nail Polish Canada!!

     So, back to W&F. No swatch or description can do this shade justice. It's a rich chocolate brown with bronze and gold and green and pink/red shimmers. Depending on the light it looks completely different. It's nothing like OPI's Pros & Bronze (which I thought it would be similar too). It's a much richer colour. I tried to get a couple of different angles for the lighting. If you can get your hands on this colour RUN out and grab it, especially from Nail Polish Canada!