Current Concealers

I'm always on the hunt for great concealers, so I will often have several drugstore and high end concealers in the rotation. Today I'm sharing my thoughts on four high end concealers, the

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, Clarins Instant Concealer, Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer, and the Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer. 

The first concealer that I really loved was the Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer. I also have the correcotor. Although I did like the concealer, I definitely preferred the corrector, and the corrector became one of my holy grail products that I've already repurchased a few times. 

A lot of people rave about the Urban Decay concealer, but this is one of my least used. I usually love it when I first apply it, and I still love it a couple hours in, but over the last few months I have worked a few 10 and 12 hour days and I have found that it just doesn't hold up on those extra long days. By the end of a long day spent indoors with air conditioning my under eyes look so dry.Although I don't  use it often, I have found that it is a good weekend concealer when I am not battling the dry air conditioning.

The NARS and Clarins Concealers are tied for my favourite Concealers. The NARS concealer is thicker and is pretty high coverage, while the Clarins concealer has pretty good coverage but is just so light and comfortable. Depending on my undereye dark circles I will typically reach for one of these Concealers. 

What are your concealer recommendations?

Braided Ponytail

I have been a lot more inspired lately to try out creative and simple styles with my hair. Most of my current inspiration has come from The Beauty Department and Twist me Pretty. I find that I feel a lot more put together when I do a simple braid in my hair compared to just pulling it back into a ponytail or leaving it straight and un-styled. Sometimes I just don't have the time in the morning to curl and style my hair, but a braid takes hardly any time at all. I have also discovered the power of "pancaking" my braids, which gives the illusion that my hair is a lot thicker than it actually is. 

Where do you find your hair inspiration? 

xo Ashley

Pixi Skintreats

I have been lucky enough to receive several of products from the Pixi Skintreats skincare line, and today I am sharing my thoughts on the cleansing balm, the toner, a face oil and a brightening moisturizer. 

First I would like to say that I am pleasantly pleased with all of the products in this post. It's great to see budget friendly products with a high end feel. My two favourites are the Glow Tonic toner and the Rose Oil Blend face oil. All of the products smell wonderful too!

Nourishing Cleansing Balm

This cleansing balm is a balm to oil cleanser, and is made with sweet almond oil, vitamin E, coco butter, and shea butter. It's described as a gentle cleanser that is deep cleaning and nourishing. I think it is great for removing makeup at the end of the day and leaves my face feeling soothed and soft. 

Glow Tonic Exfoliating Toner

This is definitely my favourite from the line. It's described as brightening and gently exfoliates for even skin tone and a healthy glow. The two ingredients that the products boasts are aloe vera and ginseng. 

Rose Oil Blend Nourishing Face Oil

I love using the rose oil in the evening after cleansing and toning to relax and end my day. The oil is fast absorbing and is said to be packed with antioxidants. Ingredients included in this face oil are sweet almond, rosehip, jojoba, pomegranate seed, rose, and geranium. I really love the soothing scent. 

Glowtion Day Dew Brightening Lotion

I've been liking this lotion as more of a radiance primer applied before foundation than a typical moisturizer. It has a pretty illuminating sheen that isn't glittery and just adds a nice glow. Again with the previous products, I love the scent. Ingredients include lavender oil for calming, and mica for brightening. 

Have you tried any of the products from the Pixie Skintreats line? What are your must have budget friendly skincare products?

xo Ashley

Valentine's Day

Hello friends! Happy Valentine's Day! I unintentionally took a short break from blogging after the Christmas holidays and thought I should do a quick post today to say that I am still here and have a lot of posts waiting to be written. The last year and half has been quite busy for me with my counselling internship, graduating from my masters degree, and now doing my counselling residency. I feel like I am finally starting to get a bit more settled into my work schedule, and I am really excited to get back to blogging and sharing my love for beauty and personal style! 

For today's post I wanted to share some of the beauty products that I've been using over the last few days leading up to Valentine's Day. Of course the adorable Love Flush heart shaped blushes and the Love Palette from Too Faced were a must. Over Christmas I was loving red lips, so for Valentine's Day I decided to go for pink and nude pink lipsticks. Finally, I have been leaning towards products that add a glow to the complexion, so the YSL Touche Eclat and the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow seemed like the perfect products to add some illumination.

What makeup products were you loving for Valentine's Day?

xo Ashley

December Birchbox

I was recently offered the chance to try out a Birchbox subscription. I was really excited because I really enjoyed the Birchbox and Rifle Paper Co. collaboration that I tested out back in April. I'm late on posting the December Birchbox, but better late than never right? Anyway, I was thrilled with the December box! I have been wanting to try more products from Amika, and I've heard a lot about Sunday Riley, so I was really excited about these two products. I also Love Tati (Glam Life Guru) on YouTube, so I was pretty excited about her LOC lip colour too. Here is a short recap of the products:

Love of Colour (LOC) Matte Lipstick in Glam Life
This lipstick is in a lip pencil form, which I really love because it is so easy to apply. The matte formula is really nice and I love the colour! It's also paraben and cruelty free. The shade I received was Glam Life, which is a plum colour that reminds me of MAC Rebel. 

Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo
I have a hair spray by Amika and have been in search for the Amika texturizing spray, so I was pretty excited to try out the dry shampoo. I have been carrying this dry shampoo in my bag at work to give my hair a refresh during the day if it starts to feel flat. It also claims not to leave a residue behind which I agree with and love!

Sunday Riley Good Genes Treatment
I have been testing this out in the mornings a s serum and I have fallen in love. It is meant to reduce fine lines and wrinkes, even skin tone, hydrate and firm. I'm not sure if it has reduced my fine lines, but so far my skin has felt hydrated and firm when I use this. 

Juara Coconut Illipe Hand and Nail Balm
This is a multi-task balm that can be used as a hand lotion or cuticles. I really enjoy the coconut scent. 

Kate Spade Live Colorfully fragrance
Finally, this scent by Kate Spade is described as having vibrant notes of Hawaiian flowers, Tahitian vanilla and mandarin. I think this scent would be perfect for spring and summer.

So there is a short recap of the December Birchbox. I also want to mention how adorable the packaging was for December! It reminded me of tinsel and snow. Do you have a beauty box subscription? Have you discovered a holy grail product from a beauty subscription? Let me know in the comments below!

xo Ashley

Holiday Gift Ideas From Too Faced

Too Faced is one of the makeup brands with the cutest packaging around, and the holiday sets are no exception. I recently received an array of products from Too Faced and I wanted to share a couple of the sets from the holiday collection that would make great last minutes gifts for those on your shopping list who are makeup obsessed (or for those looking for holidays sets for themselves). The holiday theme this year is Christmas in Paris.

Le Grande Château 

This is a beautiful little house and when you open it up there are three palettes inside and a deluxe mini of the Better Than Sex Mascara. The three palettes are called Paris in Love, Paris After Dark, and Paris Au Naturale.

Le Petit Tresor

This set includes a mini glitter bag with three of the Too Faced Le Creme Colour Drenched Lipsticks. Two of the colours are the best selling shades Taffy and Nude Beach, as well as a new colour called Wham. 

So those are a couple of the holiday sets, but there are a lot of other get gift sets and products in general from Too Faced that would make great Chirstmas presents. 

Are there any holiday makeup sets that are on your wish list? Let me know in the comments!

xo Ashley

VII Oxygen Eye Masks

I was sent the VII O2M Oxygen Eye Masks a while back, and it has taken me a lot longer then I intended to review these! I've been wanting to try some eye masks for quite some time and was very pleased with these ones. I cannot say that I saw any drastic differences in the fine lines around my eyes, but I definitely found these to be soothing and calming on my eye area. They are meant to use over night, but I've worn them during the day for a couple hours when I had a rough sleep and my eyes were puffy and tired. These have a really neat gel coating on them and they feel really cooling when applied. The masks are said to be brightening and hydrating. During the winter months my skin becomes quite dry and dehydrated, so these have been great to add a bit of moisture back into my skin. 

Have you tried any eye masks? 

xo Ashley

Beach Blonde

I briefly mentioned the John Freida Beach Blonde Sea Salt Spray in my Sunday Link Love post back in May, so I thought I would fill you in on my thoughts on some of the other products in the Beach Blonde Collection. It would have probably been more appropriate for me to talk about this line in the summer, but sometimes I need a hint of  summer to help me get through the winter. 

Beach Blonde Sea Waves Salt Spray

As I mentioned before, I actually used to use the John Frieda Salt Spray years and years ago and was really disappointed when it was discontinued (it used to be called Ocean Waves), so the re-release was really nostalgic for me. I'm not sure if it is the exact same product at it was before, but it smells the way I remember it smelling. I love the scent and I love the salty texture effect. It smells like coconut sunscreen, which is pretty much summer in a bottle to me. It's described as a texturizing product "for carefree tousled styles, windswept waves, or piecey perfection". 

Beach Blonde Cool Dip Purifying Shampoo

When I saw that there was also a shampoo, conditioner, and a deep conditioner in addition to the salt spray I was pretty excited to see what they were like. The shampoo states that it cleanses heat-damaged hair and is infused with energizing mint and seaweed. It's also described as light weight, but adds texture and brightens hair. I find the mint scent is energizing and invigorating, and a great scent to help you wake up in the morning. 

Beach Blonde Smooth Seas Detangling Conditioner

The conditioner is also described as being infused with mint for a cooling effect. It's also meant to be light weight, calming, and smoothing. Along with the mint it is infused with omega-rich kukui. 

Beach Blonde Kelp Help Deep Conditioning Masque

The masque is meant to be used in place of the conditioner for a deep conditioning effect. It has sea kelp and monoi oil to help repair damaged, dehydrated hair. I didn't know what monoi oil was, so I quickly googled it. Apparently it is a scented infused oil made from soaking Tahitian Gardenias in coconut oil. It has many uses, but one traditional use is to soften, repair, and rehydrate hair. 

Over all I really like these products and am happy they have been brought back. I love the mint and coconut scents and I know that in the depths of winter I'll be happy to have little reminders of summer weather when I use these products. Have you tried the John Frieda Beach Blonde hair products? 

xo Ashley

Estee Lauder | Pure Colour Envy Matte Sculpting Lipstick

The Estee Lauder Pure Colour Envy Matte Sculpting Lipsticks are described as saturated colour in a creme matte formula, and includes a curated collection of 12 shades. All shades in the range are means to stand out and be bold. I received the colour Stronger* and adore it. Stronger is described as a vibrant violet, and I think it's quite a wearable version of a purple lipstick.  I also think it is one of my favourite matte formulas because it's so comfortable on the lips. Another thing that I love about the Pure Colour Envy Lipsticks is the packaging, which is square shaped with gold detailing and a magnetic closure. 

Have you tried the Estee Lauder matte lipsticks? I'd love to hear some your favourite matte lipsticks! Let me now in the comments below.

xo Ashley

Irresistible Me Curling Wand

I received the Irresistible Me 8 in 1 Sapphire Curling Wand* to try out a little while back and it's been the perfect addition to my hair styling tools! For the past several years I gave up on curling irons. When I felt like adding some curl to my hair I just used my hair straightener. I still use my straightener to add curls every once in a while, but I really love the effect of a curling wand. 

It took me a little while to get used to using it, but now that I have the hang of using the curling wand I really love it. If I just want to create messy curls like the curls pictured above it only takes me 5 minutes. I haven't had a chance to trying out all 8 of the attachments yet, but so far I've loved being able to create subtle differences in my curls. I think the best part of this curling wand is how quickly it heats up (20 seconds!). Another great feature is that the LED display screen shows the temperature and changes from blue to green when it is ready. I also like that the display screen flashes blue with the words off when you turn it off, which I use as a reminder to unplug the curling wand. It also has an automatic shut off so you don't have to worry about accidentally leaving it on. I love this because my straightener doesn't have any features like this and I always find myself double checking that I turned it off, and even finding a couple times that it was still on!

I started a YouTube channel a little while ago, but haven't been brave enough to put up a video yet. If anyone is interested I can attempt to make a video using the Sapphire Curling Wand. Let me know!

What hair styling tools do you use? Do you use a curling wand?

xo Ashley

Marc Jacobs Decadene

A few weeks back I attended a launch event for the new Marc Jacobs perfume Decadence, and I was lucky enough to receive a bottle to test out! I'm already a fan of Marc Jacobs perfumes, so I was pretty excited to see what this one was like. Currently I  own Daisy, Daisy Eau So Fresh, and Lola and love all three. Decadence is quite different from the other three Marc Jacobs perfumes I own. 

The scent is described as sensual, luxurious, and woody. It starts with notes of plum, iris and saffron, then the middle notes are of rose, jasmine and orris, and finally the base notes are vetiver, papyrus woods, and liquid amber. I'm not the best at describing scents, but to me it feels feminine and warm. When I wear something like Daisy the scent feels fresh, carefree, and airy, while Decadence feels more sophisticated and mature. Even though Decadence is a deeper, heavier scent it still has some sweetness to it. I think it's an appropriate scent for fall and winter. I also think the bottle is really fun too. It's like a miniaturized handbag. 

Have you had a chance to check out Marc Jacobs Decadence? What do you think? What's your go to perfume? 

xo Ashley

Current Mascara Line Up

The mascaras pictured above are my current favourites and most used mascaras. I think that each one creates a different feel. I like having a variety of mascaras to choose from for when I want to wear a more subtle day look with lots of length, or when I want to amp up the volume and have more dramatic lashes.

L'Oreal Telescopic Shocking Extensions
I decided to pick up this mascara because Anna of Viviana Does Makeup and Suzie of Hello October always talk rave about the L'Oreal Telescopic mascaras. The brush on this mascara is really flexible which allows you to get really close to the lashes and completely coat them. I also find that this mascara adds a lot of length to my lashes.

Clinique High Impact Mascara
I have been using this mascara since I was in Jr. high school. I used to wear this mascara exclusively. Over the years I have discovered many more mascaras that I love, but this one will always be one of my favourites. The Clinique High Impact mascara is a great mascara for volume and for thickening the lashes.

Benefit Roller Lash
My mom and my aunt both raved about this mascara when it first came out, which eventually persuaded me to give it a go. This mascara has a "Hook & Roll" brush which Benefit claims helps your lashes hold a curl without using an eyelash curler. I find that it does have this effect with my lashes.

Maybelline Lash Sensational
This mascara is said to have a volumizing and fanning out brush that coats every lash. I typically prefer volume over length so I like the effect of this mascara.

Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant*
This mascara has a large brush which kind of reminds me of a Christmas tree. The rounded base is meant to create volume and the narrowed end of the brush is meant to separate lashes. As I've mentioned above, I love mascaras that give my lashes volume, so I really like this mascara.

Have you tried any of these mascaras? Let me know your mascara recommendations in the comments!

xo Ashley

MAC | Matte Lipstick Collection

Lately I have been falling head over heels for MAC products. I've always loved MAC, but recently I've been obsessing over their matte lipsticks. MAC expanded their matte lipstick collection and there are so many on my wish list. The lipsticks pictured above are Ruby Woo*, Stone*, Velvet Teddy, and Fashion Revival*.  Ruby Woo is a Retro Matte and is described as a blue-red, Velvet Teddy is described as a deep beige, and Fashion Revival is described as a deep raspberry. The lipstick I was most intrigued with was Stone. I've seen it popping up on Instagram and blogs and loved it. When I first tried it on myself though it took me a minute to get used to. I think it's an unusual shade, and it's definitely not a colour I would usually gravitate towards, but I think it's fun to experiment and try out different looks. I've experimented wearing it with a few different lip liners and I'm really loving it.  MAC describes it as a muted greyish taupe brown. Some of the other lipsticks in the othe MAC matte lipsticks that are on my wish list are Whirl, Please Me, Kinda Sexy, Tropic Tonic, Instigator, and Mehr.

Are there any MAC matte lipsticks that are on your wish list? 

xo Ashley 

Orange Lips for Fall

A couple weeks back the Fashion Magazine Beauty Panel was given the challenge to show how to wear orange for fall. I ended up coming up with a look, but did not get around to editing the photos in time. I decide I should probably post the photos anyway! I think that lipstick and nail polish are always fun ways to try out a colour trend. I also have a bit of a collection of orange lip products so I thought I would share some of my favourites. If you are intimidated by pure orange you can also go for an orange toned red lipstick or a peachy-orange colour. for this look I'm wearing the new Maybelline Colorblur Lip Pencil in Orange Ya Glad. The neat thing about this lipstick is that it has a smudger on one end so you can create an ombre effect. I attempted the ombre effect for this look but it ended up quite subtle. 

Lipsticks pictured above are, Maybelline ColorBlur Lip Pencil in Orange Ya Glad, Clinique Pop Lip Color in Poppy Pop, Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick in Tulip, Make Up For Ever Artist Plexi Gloss in Orange, L'Oreal Colour Riche Pure Reds in Julianne's Red, Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Mandarin Muse, Clinique Pop Lip Color in Melon Pop, and NARS Audacious Lipstick in Lana 

What do you think of orange lipstick?

xo Ashley

Happy Birthday

September is my birthday month, and I could not wait to get my hands on the Sephora birthday gift from NARS. I literally rushed to Sephora right at the beginning of the month. The gift includes two of the NARS lip pencils. One satin pencil in the shade Rikugien described as a rose pink, and a matte pencil in Cruella, which is described as a scarlet red. These are perfect to carry with you in your purse and great to go from a day look to a night look. I also included some photos of the other NARS Satin Lip Pencil that I own in the shade Yu. This one is described as a vivid pink. I really love the formula of the matte lip pencils and the colours Red Square an Train Bleu are on my wish list. 

Did you grab the NARS birthday gift at Sephora this year? 

xo Ashley

Urban Decay | Naked Smoky Palette

I recently received the Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette as a gift from a friend (thanks Karolina!), and I have been absolutely loving it! I think it has a great mix of browns, bronzes, greys, and purples, which means that there are so many different variations of a smoky eye that you can create with this palette. I've even worn some appropriate day looks with the shadows in this palette. Something that I really like is how the shadows are arranged in this palette and how all the matte shades are together. Another thing I'm loving is the packaging! I love the magnetic closure and the smoky effect pattern. I can't wait to start experimenting and creating endless smoky eye looks. 

Do you own the Naked Smoky Palette? Is there a palette you can't live without? 

xo Ashley

Phyto Event at Sephora

I recently had the opportunity to stop by Sephora Chinook Centre to be pampered by Phyto. They asked me a few questions about my hair then got to work on giving me the perfect blow out. I've tried out the brand before and really liked the products. The products used in my hair were, Phytovolume Actif Volumizing Spray, Phytokeratine Repairing Thermal Protectant Spray, and Huile Soyeuse Lightweight Hydrating Oil. After my hair was done it had a lot more volume and was very smooth. The great thing was that the volume lasted all day! I also got to leave with a bunch of mini products to test out so you will see a review coming soon! In the mean time you can check out my previous review on some of the Phyto products here. 

Have you tried Phyto hair products? What is your favourite product or what are you dying to try out?

xo Ashley

Red Lip Line Up

One thing starting a blog helped me with is being bolder with my lip colours. I used to shy away from wearing darker lip colours and gravitated towards wearing sheer colours and lip glosses. That is not the case anymore. Sometimes when I'm having a no make up day but I need to make a run to the grocery store I will throw on a red lip right before I leave the house. It instantly makes me feel put together. One red lipstick that has been on my wish list for a while now is MAC Ruby Woo. I'm also swooning over the Kendal Jenner for Estee Lauder colour Restless. 

The lipsticks pictured above are MAC Amplified Lipstick in Maria Moretti* (see me wearing Maria Moretti here), Bite Beauty High Pigment Pencil in Pomegranate (See Pomegranate swatched here), Revlon Creme lipstick in Love That Red, NARS Audacious Lipstick in Lana (see me wearing Lana here), L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Blake's Pure Red (See me wearing Blake's Red here), Sephora Cream Lipstain in 01 Always Red and NYX lip liner in Hot Red. 

Do you have a favourite red lipstick?

xo Ashley

Update | Makeup Brushes

While I was still in the midst of my Masters degree I took a lot of photos for my blog, but I could not find the motivation to go back and actually write content to go with the photos.  Now that I've had a break and feel a lot more relaxed and refreshed after the summer I'm finally starting to go back through some of my photos.

I wrote a post a while back about some of my favourite brushes, but since then I've added a few more to my collection that I am loving. I thought I would share the new editions.

Make Up For Ever 156 Large Flat Blush Brush*

This brush is an amazing multi-tasking brush. I use it for blush, contour and highlight. This brush is so soft and I love that it is rounded but also somewhat flat.

Make Up For Ever 234 Angled Shader Brush*

This brush is amazing for really defining the crease. I tend to gravitate towards some of my older crease brushes, but whenever I use this brush I love the result. I really need to use it more often.  Make Up For Ever recommends the 234 brush for beginners and professional alike. There also a video linked on the Sephora website that demos how to use this brush.

Sonia Kashuk Eyeliner Brush in #28

I grabbed this brush before the Target stores closed in Canada. I had my eye on it for a little while, but as soon as I heard that Target was closing I had to rush out and grab it. I love that it creates a really fine line and it works great with gel liner.

Real Techniques Duo Fiber Collection

I came across this set at London Drugs. I love all my other Real Techniques brushes so I decided to try out these ones as well. I really like the the face brush and the contour brush, but the eye brush I could live without. The face brush I typically use for powder and often use it with my Bourjois Healthy Mix Powder, and the contour brush works great for setting under eye makeup.

Stila Shape and Shade Custom Contour Brush*

I only use this brush with the Stila Contour Kit. It works really well with the kit and is great with cream products. I love that it is dual ended. You can use the larger brush for contouring areas like the cheekbones, and the smaller brush for the nose. I've been meaning to do a full review of the contour kit and the brush. If you are interested in this let me know!

Stila Brow Brush*

Again this bush is meant to pair perfectly with the Stila Stay All Day Brown Gel, and again I only use this brush with the Stila Brow Gel. I would definitely try it out with other brow gels, but the Stila one is the only gel I own at the moment. The shape of the brush is concave, so its meant to fit nicely with the orbital bone. This combo had opened my mind to brow gels and it's become one of my favourite ways to do my brows. 

So those are my newest brushes. Have you tried any of these? 

xo Ashley

*This post includes PR samples sent for consideration

FOTD | Charlotte Tilbury

I've wrote a little about the Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk and how much I love it in a past post (read here) but I haven't wrote about any of the other Charlotte Tilbury products that I own yet. Charlotte Tilbury became available in Canada back in June and I quickly ordered some of the items that ranked highest on my wishlist. This included the the K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in Penelope Pink, the Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk, and finally the Luxury Palette in The Dolce Vita. Also back in June JP bought the Filmstar Bronze and Glow for me while we were in Seattle for my graduation ceremony. 

For my eyes I basically recreated Charlotte Tilbury's Dolce Vita smoky eye look, excluding adding winged eyeliner. Instead I used a dark brown eye liner to tight line my upper lash line. You can also watch a tutorial from the Charlotte Tilbury YouTube channel on her Dolce Vita look.

Have you tried any products from Charlotte Tilbury?

xo Ashley