Showing posts with label Beauty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beauty. Show all posts

21 August 2012

Truth and Beauty

The fashion world is up in arms about designer Tom Ford's blunt comments on supermodel Gisele Bundchen becoming "too old" for the industry.  Though I don't agree that she's getting old (c'mon the girl is 32!),  I can see why he would feel that she has a tough time ahead of her as she becomes less relevant in the fashion world:

"This sounds negative, but when you're considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, it's very, very hard when that starts to slip away. It's hard to feel good about yourself when people react to you differently. And, Gisele, I hope you're not reading this, because it's going to sound so negative but I know through some of my best friends who are really famous actresses — I'm not going to mention their names — who were at one point considered to be among the most beautiful women in the world at different periods of time, and how hard it is for them emotionally. So, I hope Gisele is prepared for that, because it's so difficult."




He speaks the truth!  If everyone constantly is telling you are "x" for a signifcant portion of your life, then if you slowly lose that quality, how could you not feel less like yourself?  It is a natural part of dealing with aging to consider how you might be less attractive and want to preserve that, so imagine trying to handle that when it's your job to be beautiful and desirable all the time.  I do feel a bit sorry for Gisele...but then I remember how rich, smug and self-agrandizing she can sound and then I don't anymore!

19 August 2012

The September Issue: Glamour Magazine

In the quest to spend less of my money frivolously, I stopped buying magazines on a regular monthly basis a while ago.  I honestly didn't miss my monthly edition of Glamour, InStyle, Self, etc, etc because I was starting to feel like there wasn't anything unique or useful in them that I couldn't find somewhere else (i.e.:  blogs, websites, Pinterest).  This month, I did make an exception and picked up Glamour magazine's September 2012 edition, guest edited by Posh Spice herself, Victoria Beckham.  Truthfully I was only interested in reading about her, because I'm a big fan but I was pleasantly surprised by the entire issue.  There are great touches of insight about fashion from Victoria (as well as some "real life" stuff like her favourite quinoa pasta recipe), as well as tons of interesting features by talented bloggers like the Man Repeller, Emily Weiss from Into The Gloss and a funny commentary on changing your man's style by the delicious Jason Sudekis from SNL.   

I've already read the issue from cover to cover twice and am now obsessed with it as my fashion bible for fall.  Pick this one up now ladies (and men)...it's definitely worth your $5.99!


12 July 2012

Product Alert: Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector

Ever since I can remember, I have had dark circles under my eyes and have tried every concealer on the market to try to cover them up.  Now, I may have found a way to get rid of them forever: Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector.



The name may be a mouthful, but it claims to "visibly lighten dark circles by 30 percent in 12 weeks".  I've tried other Even Better products (including my all time favourite for evening out skin tone, Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector) and I've had good results, so chances are this product would work well to brighten up my undereye area.   I haven't been to the beauty counter in a while, but it is for sure available on Sephora.  Will keep you posted on the results once I try it!


1 July 2012

Making Waves

Something strange is happening to my hair.  After growing it out for the last year (it's nearly at the bottom of my shoulder blades!), I was almost certain I would have trouble keeping it full of body by now.  In fact, the opposite has occured:  I have more body in my hair and stranger still, I actually have some waves going on.  Now I'm totally lost when it comes to taking care of of my hair.  I used to have stick straight fine hair that couldn't hold a curl to save my life without massive amounts of hairspray (we are talking nearly a whole can).  How does one treat medium length, fine, colour treated wavy hair?  Especially when you are notoriously lazy about styling your hair yet totally a perfectionist who can't stand a hair out of place like I am.

Since there are an overwhelming amount of products and sources for research out there, I've decided to work backwards by looking for inspiration then trying to emulate them myself.  So fair, I am really digging Minka Kelly's hair - she has the relaxed yet put together wavy hair that I am hoping to re-create for myself.

Ignoring the fact that she is freakin' stunning,
I think I can make my hair look like Minka Kelly with a few simple steps.
 

I kind of like this new challenge and truthfully being part of the wavy hair club.  My sister, little niece and lots of my friends have wavy hair, so I'm in good company!




28 May 2012

MAC Hey Sailor! Touch of Red

Y'all know how much I love stripes and the China Glaze polish called Hey Sailor!, and for a brief moment I thought MAC had combined these two loves of mine in their own polish called Hey Sailor! Touch of Red.  It must have been my tired eyes and/or overactive imagination, but red and blue stripes sadly do not come straight out of this bottle of polish.

Can you see why I may have thought this was actually striped nail polish?
No, I cant either...

I do think upon further research that the Hey Sailor! Collection is adorable and can see myself purchasing some of the products.  Maybe one day MAC will figure out a way for striped or patterned nail polish to come straight out of a bottle.  After all, they've figured out how to make magnets create designs in nail polish, so it can't be that far off.

29 April 2012

Beauty Tips from Miss M - Perfect Liquid Eyeliner

Sometimes girls make the most random comments to each other in the ladies bathroom.  Mostly these comments are ones of admiration:  "I love your purse!",  "Your hair is so shiny, how did you get that way?",  "Great top, where is it from?", etc, etc.  The other day when I was in the ladies room at work, a co-worker commented on how perfectly straight my eyeliner was, which delighted me to no end.

See how thin that brush is?!
See, I wear liquid eyeliner on my top lash line, and not the type that's from the felt tip-ended pen.  My liquid eyeliner is the real deal L'oreal Lineur Intense Brush Tip which has a very fine brush.  Unlike a felt tip liner that does the work for you, you have to be ever so precise with the thin brush to get a an even line.  If done right, the results are much nicer than a felt tip liquid liner, more like an extension of your own lash line, which is natural yet sexy.  So...I am strangely proud of how after years and years of practice, my eyeliner technique finally gets me a super straight line almost every time.  I know this sounds like a weird thing to be proud of, but damnit, I only have so many talents and this is one of them!


Anyway, I thought I'd share my tips from my years of practice and encourage y'all to give liquid liner from a brush tip a try.  In my humble opinion, it's a much nicer option than the felt tip liner which can result in a thicker line thus a more obvious look.

Miss M's Tips for Perfect Liquid Lined Eyes:

1.  Start with a base.  I wear concealer, so I start with that around the eyes then I set the whole area with powder.  If you are doing eye shadow, now is the time to do it as well.

Note:   I know a lot beauty blogs will tell you to do your eye makeup first to avoid messing up the rest of your face, but I have always done foundation/powder/blush first, then eye makeup.  As long as you're careful, you'll be fine.  You can always touch up where needed.

2.  Once you are done your other makeup and eye shadow, you are ready to line the eyes.  Sweep off any excess liquid from the brush on the sides of the tube.  You don't want to end up with a heavy line, but one that is sleek, sophisticated and natural.

3.  Get close, really close, to the mirror, then stretch the outer corner of your eyelid the teensy-tiniest bit.  

4.  Steady your hand by resting on your cheekbone if you need to and line your eye from inner corner to outer edge, staying as close to your eyelashes as possible.

The point is to enhance your own natural lashline, so you want to have as little space between the liner and your lashes as possible.  Finish off the look with a coat of mascara (or coats of mascara if needed).

Ta da!  

Showing off my liquid eyeliner skills!


5.  If you mess up, you can dip the end of a Q-tip in a little bit of eye makeup remover to clean up any missteps or to take the whole thing off and start over.

6. Practice makes perfect!  If you don't succeed at first, don't give up!  If someone as un-coordinated as me can do this, you probably can too.

28 April 2012

Choosing Sides

What do you think?  Left eye or right eye?
Remember the story of how Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes got her nickname?  The story goes that one of her boyfriends said the he thought her left eye was more beautiful than her right eye, thus her nickname was born (side note, has it really been 10 years since she passed away?).  This came to my mind when reading an article about how scientists have discovered that your left side is more appealing to others than your right side.  This is for a few reasons, including that your left side displays more intensity of emotion which the viewer finds aesthetically pleasing.

Their research, I'm sure was thorough, but it got me questioning whether this is true or not.  So, that meant spending some intense and purposeful mirror time to test their theory.  Is my left side really nicer than my right side?  Well, in fact, I did notice that I've subconciously parted my hair to display the left side of my face better.  Not sure when I made this choice, but it's been that way for a long time, which perhaps means my left side was more aesthetically pleasing to me the viewer in the mirror.  I found in several photographs as well where I tended to turn my face to the left...maybe to display my better side to the camera?  But, on the other hand, all my Lady in Charge profile pictures are of my lavender-shadowed right eyelid.

So what have I concluded in this brief, non-scientific study of my face?  Nothing except that I have spent wayyyy to much time in the mirror today!

1 April 2012

Mint Condition to Aqua-Mint

Deciding that I'm going fun with my nails this spring inspired me to jump on a blue/green nail polish from L'Oreal that I found in the drugstore the other day.  It's called "Club Prive" and it's the perfect shade of aqua-mint:


I'm not actually sure if "aqua-mint" is a word, but it's the only way I can describe this blue/green shade.  Hmm I may have invented a word!  Anyway...it truly is a gorgeous shade that has a bit of warm undertone so it doesn't wash out my skin tone.  I've had some compliments on it, including from my co-worker who literally stopped mid-sentence to say "I love your nail polish!".  

27 March 2012

Mint Condition

Spring has definitely sprung around me.  The weather last weekend in Vancouver was fabulous and flip-flop worthy (thank goodness I did my toes!).  So much so that I actually had drinks on a patio with some of my girl friends.  Nothing better than that!

Despite the fact the rain has returned this work week, I'm still in a spring frame of mind.  I picked up some basics for the warmer weather the other day (white tee, light weight neutral cardi, striped tee), and now I'm tring to decide what my signature spring nail colour will be.  Normally I'm fairly conservative with my nail choices for my fingernails, but this year I feel like stepping outside my comfort zone.

Bright pink or coral shades are always nice on my skin tone in the spring/summer, but I've kind of been digging mint green lately:

Dior Vernis Scented Nail Laquer

Essie Turquoise & Caicos (from essie.com)

Mint green is a nice alternative to the "traditional" colors of spring and also suits my olive skin tone a bit better than blue, which is also a popular choice this spring.  I might invest in a bottle of something funkier than I normally would wear, or I might just stay the course with Essie Merino Cool which apparently still works for the spring.

21 March 2012

You're Not Fooling Anyone

Most Real Housewives are pretty up front about the work they've had done and the maintenance they endure to stay young.  I'm not sure if the RH of Vancouver have been revealing about plastic surgery and injectables they use, but it's pretty safe to say that most if not all of them have partaken in some form of one or both:





I'm actually shocked that Slice would release this video.  It's very good quality and the close-ups reveal quite a few overly smooth foreheads and mysteriously plump lips.

To each their own, but I'm not sure I'm  comfortable with any of that stuff, lest I end up looking like this:

Rose McGowan was very pretty already (see left).
Now with all the plastic surgery she's had (right),  she's almost unrecognizable.

26 February 2012

Hey Sailor!

My dream job is to create names for nail polishes and other cosmetics.  Don't you ever look at the bottom of your nail polish, giggle and think "damn, I want that job!".  I do!

Anyway, I just received my first Loose Button Luxe box...kind of like the Glymm beauty box but with different products that are more customized towards you...and I was delighted to see a full size China Glaze nail polish called "Hey Sailor!".  How fun is that name?  It really made me want to quit my job immediately and embark on a career as a nail polish namer.  It sounds like an amazing job where you can travel the world, getting inspired for next seasons colours.

Pretty colour, huh?  Can't wait to try it out.

If you're interested in signing up for the Loose Button Luxe Box, you can sign up as a friend of mine here.  My February box contained the full size nail polish, a great scrub from Dermalogica and a full size sample of one of my all time favourite perfumes, L'Air Du Temps by Nina Ricci.  Totally worth the $10 plus tax!

20 February 2012

Spring Trends

Looking forward to spring is one of my favourite pastimes in winter.  I know, I should totally get a hobby, but I can't help it!  Spring's arrival means summer is not far behind, and I truly, truly love everything about summer.  I have even tricked myself into thinking that Vancouver is going to have a sunny, rain free spring this year!

I've been interested to see what the trends are for spring, and here's some of what I've found that seems wearable and fun.  You can also check out my "Spring Inspiration" Pinterest board as well as last fall's breakdown of New York Fashion Week Spring 2012.  

Prints are funky, flowery and full of colour:

Dress from Mango

Patterned clutch from Aldo




Pleats are hot for dresses and skirts:

BCBG skirt (via the Globe and Mail)
Talbots pleated dress


Neon colours are big, but an easy way to wear them without being over the top is in your makeup.  Think hot pink gloss, neon hued eye shadows & eye liners and bright nail polishes like Chanel "June".

Stila Caprice lip colour (available at Sephora  
Funky platforms from Ruthie Davis
           









  

6 February 2012

Beauty Product Alert: Beauty Balms

A few weeks back, I wrote about facial oils and their multitude of benefits, so I thought I'd share Fashionista's article on beauty balms being equally as beneficial to your skin care routine.  Beauty balm creams or "BBs" have been around for decades, but haven't been popular for years.  Now everyone from Garnier to MAC to 3Lab are getting into the BB trend.

I never did end up trying the Clarins facial oil, but BBs seem like they would be more beneficial to try.  First and foremost, they are supposed to be a multipurpose product...nourishing, detoxifying and protecting all in one.  I think I might try this Boscia version, as it sounds like it would be good for my acne prone skin and works good with my skin tone.





19 January 2012

Chanel "June" Nailcolour

I know June seems so far away, but isn't this the prettiest shade for a manicure in the spring/summer?   I think this shade of orange is called canteloupe.  Anyway, after all the chilly weather in Vancouver this week, I'm all ready for a change of seasons!  Check out more fun nail colours for spring at Fashionista.


15 January 2012

Pagent School 101

Miss America 2012 obviously didn't take the Beauty portion of pagent class, cause some lesssons in using waterproof eye makeup would have really helped her out last night when she received her crown and sash:


The horror!

12 January 2012

Beauty Product Review: Sula Lip Gloss


I recently got a great lipgloss in my Glymm Beauty Box from a brand I've never heard of called Sula.  Generally I stick to tried and true Rosebud salve that I've been obsessed with for about 6 years.  I hate to have anything on my lips, mostly because lipstick always rubs off and I always have trouble with gloss because they are often too sticky.  Sounds gross, but my pet peeve is getting my hair stuck to my lips when I have gloss on.  


BUT, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised about how much I like this Sula "First Kiss" lip gloss!  It is a perfect shade of pink - not too light that it looks like it belongs on a 11 year old, not too bold that it's that Barbie pink - plus it isn't sticky like other glosses.  I might have to track it down somewhere...so far I only see this brand on Glymm's website or through the recommendations on Sula's website.



8 January 2012

Fashion Websites: Refinery 29

As soon as I'm home from my "real" job and unwinding from the craziness that usually rules my day, I love visiting 3 or 4 (or 24...) different fashion sites/blogs to check out the latest style news, trend reports and beauty tips.  One of the sites I've discovered more recently is Refinery 29 and I'm so impressed with it so far.  It's very unique in the sense that it categorizes its stories by major cities like New York, LA and Miami, but also by topic like Beauty, Fashion and Shopping.  And if you weren't aware, I'm a mega type A personality, so anything that is neatly categorized, I'm instantly in love with.

Today their top stories range from finding a great parka, to celebrity baby news to how to find out what skin type you are.  I definitely recommend checking out Refinery 29!


5 January 2012

Beauty Product Alert: Facial Oil

I know it sounds strange, but facial oils are apparently the next by thing according to one of my favourite blogs, Fashionista.  As a woman who has had oily, acne prone skin for most of her life, the thought of putting more oil on my face seems counter productive.  But...the experts say it works and I think I may have found a really great one to try for my combination skin.  I will let you know how it goes when I start using it!

Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil



22 December 2011

Glymm Beauty Box: the Arrival!

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Glymm Beauty Box I signed up for.  I promised to share the contents of my box with you all, so here it is!

An adorable jar of white and red jellybeans, Lise Watier eye cream & "flash" radiance serum, AHAVA mineral handcream  , a YSL mini perfume and a full size Sula Natural lip gloss.  Love it all!

I am in love with the idea of receiving a little box of goodies each month for a mere $10.  I can see this (hopefully) helping me cut back on drugstore purchases that I don't need because I have the beauty box to look forward to.


I also have to share that my new rose gold watch came by courier today.  Nordstrom delivers at amazing speed!  Very impressed with this and that the watch is everything I wished for and more.  


My new baby!  So pretty.  Sigh.

21 December 2011

Signature Scent

I have been a perfume "whore" for a long time.  What does that mean?  Well, I jump from one fragrance to the next without thinking and never seem to settle on just one.  That changed when I discovered Jo Malone fragrances last year.

I was in Ireland on an exchange program and after 15 heavily scheduled days of a 30 day, 11 stop exchange, I finally had an afternoon to myself in Limerick.  I ended up in the beauty section of a department store called Brown Thomas where I honed in on the large Jo Malone counter.  I had heard the name before and was curious to find out what Jo Malone was all about.   What I learned was that the scents in her collection are very unique - from Lime & Mandarin to Wild Fig & Cassis - and so are the recommended ways to pair two or more of the scents together.  I ended up buying two fragrances that day and I have been a devoted Jo Malone customer since.  I have my special scent and though I don't tell anyone what that is, I often hear "you smell amazing! what IS that?"




If you are looking for a "signature scent", Jo Malone is the place to find it.  The fragrances are categorized from Citrus to Light Floral to Spicy, and more.  There is definitely something for everyone.  You can shop Jo Malone on their website as well as most higher end department stores like Nordstrom in the states or Holt Renfrew in Canada. Or, if you are ever in London check out her luxe new store in the West Village.