Birchbox & Rifle Paper Co

I'm quite late posting this, as the Birchbox and Rifle Paper Co collab was the April box. I still wanted to share how absolutely beautiful the box was, not to mention a couple interesting products inside! Birchbox reached out and asked me if I would like to try out the April Rifle Paper Co box, and I decided to give it a go. This is my first beauty box, so I was pretty excited to see what I would get. I think beauty boxes are a great way to test out and discover new products. My mom has a few different subscriptions, and I always love to see what she gets. I actually hadn't tried any of the products from the brands in the Birchbox that I received, so it has been pretty fun trying them all out. Here is a quick overview of what I received in my April Birchbox:

Beaver Professional Hydro Nutritive Moisturizing Shampoo and  Repairing Conditioner (full sizes $19 & $20)

This is described as a mild shampoo that gives much needed nourishment and is meant to repair and rebuild damaged hair. The Conditioner is meant to restore and strengthen damaged hair. I've tried these out a couple times and have liked them so far. I like that you don't need to use too much of both the conditioner and shampoo to feel like the products are doing their job. 

BeeKind Shower Gel (full size $19)

This is a hydrating and moisturizing shower gel made with honey and lemongrass. I've also tried this out a couple times and love the scent. The bottle also states that a portion of the proceeds of the purchase of this body gel goes towards supporting the honey bee and sustainable pollination research. 

Jelly Pong Pong Glow Getter Highlighter (full size $16.50)

This highlighter is a weightless gel formula with a pearlescent shimmer. I tend to use powder highlighters, so I was excited to see what a gel highlighter was like. 

Mereadesso All-in-Onee Moisturizer (full size $120)

Last, this moisturizer is a multi-purpose anti-aging day and night cream, serum, eye cream, toner, and primer. I haven't tried this out yet but it sounds interesting. 

The May Birchbox is a collaboration with blogger Cupcakes and Cashmere (Emily mentioned it briefly in a Five Things post), which I think looks pretty great too!

Do you have a beauty box subscription? Have you discovered any holy grail products from a subscription box? 

xo Ashley

ACI Spring Launches

Several weeks ago I had the chance to attend a spring launch preview featuring products from Stila, Cargo, and Paul and Joe. It was such a fun opportunity to take a look at some new products, swatch them, and have an in person and in-depth walk through all about each product. I was especially interested to hear about the Paul and Joe beauty line because it was new to Canada and I had not heard much about it yet. In Calgary you can find Paul and Joe at the renovated Shopper Drug Mart in Chinook Centre. I find Stila to be an accessible brand, but Cargo can be a bit tricker to find. I find my Cargo beauty products at London Drugs or at Murale. 

What's new from Paul and Joe

Each year Paul and Joe comes out with limited edition items with unique packaging that reflects the season's patterns from the Paul and Joe Fashion line. The cosmetics packaging can be linked with the seasons fashions by coordinating patterns and colours with the current fashion. In the photos above you can see the limited edition custom packaging in the compacts that can be used for blush or eyeshadow, and in the lipstick tubes. I think custom packaging is such a fun concept! 

Another limited edition collection that we were introduced to was the Midnight Sangria collection. This collection was inspired by designer Sophie Mechaly's travels through Spain, and includes a beautiful set of lip glosses (second photo), eye shadows, and nail polishes in vibrant hues inspired by the colours of a sunset and the spanish sky. 

Other new launches to check out are the Moisturizing Foundation Primer L, the Gel Foundation, and the Waterproof and Smudge Proof Mascaras. 

What's new from Stila

First of all, I'm loving the new packaging from Stila. Some of the new products introduced for spring were a whole line of brow products including the Stay All Day Brow Gel and brush, Stay All Day Brow Glide Pencil (which I find to be similar to the Anastasia Brow Wiz), and the Stay all Day Waterproof brow colour (a brow pen). Next up, contour. Stila introduced The Shape and Shade custom contour  duo, as well as the Shape and Shade Custom Contour Brush. The contour duo are a cream contour and highlight and come in three colours. There are also several videos on the Stila website with tutorials on how to achieve a contoured look with the duo. Finallly, the lip products. Stila introduced three nude lip colours to correspond perfectly with each of the contour duos. The also introduced the Lush Lips Water Plumping Primer

What's new from Cargo

Finally, some of the new spring launches from Cargo. They've added two new palettes, the Essentials Eye Palette, and the limited edition Summer in the City Eye Shadow Palette. Both are full of colours any neutral eye shadow lover would adore. The launches that I loved the most were the lip launches, including the Gel Lip Colours and the Matte Top Coat, which I'll write more about in a later post.

Other new releases include the HD Picture Perfect Concealer, HD Picture Perfect Liquid Foundation, the Double Agent Concealing Balm. 

I also had the chance to test out a few of the new spring launches, so watch out for some reviews coming up from Paul and Joe, Stila, and Cargo!

Have you tried any of these spring launches from Paul and Joe, Stila and Cargo? 

xo Ashley

Sunday Link Love #6

Now that I have more time on my hands to scour the internet for interesting articles and blog posts, I thought I would bring back my Sunday Link Love posts, where I share some of my favourite bloggers, blog post, and other things I find interesting around the internet.

I found blogger Beti of Makeup Sessions through Instagram, and am totally hooked on her IG and blog. Lately she has been doing a spring makeup series, which I have loved because I always like to see how people choose to switch up their makeup for different seasons. Beti has great reviews and if you are a makeup addict like I am, you will love looking at her beautiful makeup collection and photos.

I like to think of these Sunday link sharing posts as a chance for me to also share my love of psychology on the blog. I recently found this article on Psychology Today through twitter about emotion awareness and regulation. I especially liked this quote from the article, "If feelings are information, then open yourself to the information they are telling you and let the feeling arrive in your consciousness". 

The second issue of Dote Magazine came out a little while ago, but I only recently picked it up at Market Collective last weekend. If you do not live in Calgary, you can read the first and second issues of Dote online here.

A couple posts back I shared an outfit wearing a Kimono by Lauren Yurkio. Well, I loved that kimono so much that I had to stop by her table at Market Collective and buy another one of her beautiful kimonos. Lauren is a really talented artist, and she also creates hand printed textiles including pillows, napkin sets, and jackets. If you live in Calgary you should definitely check out her work when she is at Market collective. If you do not live in Calgary you can check out a few of her pieces on her Etsy shop!

Alix of I Covet Thee recently shared her April Favourites on her blog and YouTube channel, and I literally ran to Shoppers Drug Mart when she mentioned that John Freida had brought back their Sea Salt Spray. I loved this Sea Salt Spray a while back, so using it again has been pretty nostalgic. I also really love the coconut/sunscreen scent, which just reminds me of summer.

Finally, over the last couple weeks I have been trying to get back into a workout routine. Sometimes I just don't feel like heading to the gym or going for a run, so I just throw on a exercise video on YouTube. I especially love Cassey's 5 minute and 6 minute Blogilates videos. These are great when you are in a rush and don't have much time to fit in a workout, or you can do a bunch of them in a row to get a full body workout in.

I'd love to hear some of the blogs and articles you have been loving recently!

xo Ashley

Make Up For Ever | Step 1 Skin Equalizers

I'm always up for trying out anything new from Make Up For Ever, so of course I jumped at the chance to try out their new Step 1 Skin Equalizers. I've done a post of my top primers in the past (read it here), and Make Up For Ever has made it into my top primers list before, so I was expecting to like this new range of primers as well. The primers are divided into two purposes, correcting texture and tone, and I was send one from each category. I received the number 4 nourishing primer from the texture category and the number 6 cool pink radiant primer from the tone category. 

Nourishing Skin Equalizer*

The nourishing primer is meant to add moisture and replenish dry skin and can be described as "the skin cocoon". This primer is great for those who either have dry skin or live in extreme climates where temperatures are always changing. This nourishing primer has a unique vegetable complex, shea butter, and antioxidant vitamin E to help sooth and protect the skin from the elements. 

Cool Pink Radiant Skin Equalizer* 

The Cool Pink primer is meant to add radiance and a glowing base to lighter complexions. It can be thought of as the "flush of freshness" primer. The tone primers are said to brings light to the skin and corrects skin tone. The Cool Pink primer can be used to perk up dull skin and add a fresh glow or rosy tint, making the skin appear refreshed. 

I think the coolest thing about these primers is that there are so many different options to choose from, so there is bound to be one that suits your skins needs (there are 11 primers in total). You can also mix and match the primers to work together, which I think is a great concept.  Make Up For Ever claims that their new primers have a triple action effect; they help makeup go on smoothly, they optimize the colour and finish of your complexion, and they give your makeup staying power. For me, I really liked the combination of the nourishing and radiant primer together, and I do agree that they added lasting power to my makeup.

Unfortunately for me, I ended up having a minor allergic reaction to the Cool Pink Radiant Skin Equalizer. I'm allergic to titanium, and titanium dioxide is one of the ingredients in all the radiant primers. I read the ingredients list before using the primer, so I knew that there was a possibility I might have a reaction. I decided to try it out because depending on the amount of titanium in a product I can sometimes get away with using it without a reaction. Before I had the reaction I did like the effect that the primer had though. I have had no issues with the nourishing primer, which I am so happy about because I really do love it. I think the nourishing primer is perfect living in Calgary where the climate is dry and the weather is unpredictable.

Over all, I would definitely recommend checking out these primers! 

Do you use a makeup primer, or have you tried the Step 1 Skin Equalizers? 

xo Ashley

Little Black Dress Remix

In my last outfit post I wore this Old Navy dress with the Elodie Cardi from Gentle Fawn, and this time around I paired the same dress with a vest, little black flats, and a floral and striped clutch. I was actually having a hard time deciding if I should wear the vest or the cardi on this particular day when I took these photos (and the last set of photos), so I decided to just turn my indecision into a blog post idea where I wear the same dress two different ways.  

In other news, I finished my internship on Friday! It's been a weird mix of emotions as I am so happy to have completed this milestone and excited for the next steps in this journey, but I am also sad to say goodbye to all the amazing people that I have met. I'm also pretty excited to have somewhat of a break and little more time on my hands, so you can expect a lot more blog posts coming your way! I already have quite a few in the works.

xo Ashley 

Outfit Details

Old Navy dress

Gentle Fawn Factor Vest*

shoes: gift from Karolina's Style

Aldo sunglasses

Chapters/Indigo clutch