• sonia roselli water balm

    July 2018 Faves

    Hi Everyone!

    I’ve decided that I will be adding other things to my monthly favourites posts; I’ll add food/drinks, clothing and entertainment!

    Here are this month’s beauty faves:

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    The BCL Spa Sugar Scrub Lavender + Mint and BCL Spa Dead Sea Salt Soak Lavender + Mint are amazing. Both have made my skin feel so soft and the lavender + mint scent is fresh and clean. The sugar scrub is fine and not too coarse on the skin, and it dissolved in a warm bath. The sea salt soak was so relaxing. I don’t know what it is about bath salts, but they always make the bathwater feel silky. I would definitely recommend picking up the spa set if you’re into at-home pampering! I was lucky enough to receive the 4-piece set in a giveaway I won from @DannyCoHair.

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    Sonia Roselli Water Balm (read my review) is amazing and I can’t wait to try more of her products! It’s a multi-use product and it feels so good on the skin. I use it as a moisturizer and primer.

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    I’ve really been liking the Tarte Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint in Birthday Suit. Sadly, I need to declutter it because it’s drying out. But I really liked the shade and the feel of it. Sometimes, I would top it with some gloss, which would lighten the shade a bit. This is the shade Birthday Suit, the mini that everyone got from Sephora for their birthday gift last year.

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    I went to Indie Expo Canada and I picked up a holo nail polish called The Deep End by Colors by Llarowe. It’s described as a vivid turquoise based multi chrome that shifts from turquoise to green to blue to purple to pink with added holo sparkle. I really wanted a blue-turquoise mermaid-y nail polish and The Deep End was my fave of the turquoise holo nail polishes at the Indie Expo. I swatched them on a nail wheel (as you can see above); one coat on the left and two coats on the right. I love that it’s holographic, so it doesn’t have chunks in it and therefore the nails feel nice and smooth. I love glitter nail polish, but I don’t like that you can feel the texture of the sparkles until you apply a top coat and even then, sometimes it still feels a bit bumpy.

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    I tried Meghan Markle’s zucchini bolognese recipe. I had seen it on Buzzfeed and it sounded interesting, so I thought I’d give it a try. They call it a ‘bolognese’ because you cook the zucchini for 4 hours (similar to slow-cooking a bolognese sauce). I thought it was pretty good, but I think I would prefer if the zucchini still had some crunch and kept it’s shape. I like the recipe and would use it again, but instead cook the zucchini for a portion of the time. Also, I’m a girl who likes to eat meat, so I would probably have some roast chicken on the side or even add some into the pasta.

    I’ve been enjoying the President’s Choice Blue Menu Pink Grapefruit Sparkling Water, it’s refreshing and it has no calories, no sugar and no sodium. I don’t usually like flavoured water, but this one I don’t mind. It’s great if you want something carbonated, but don’t want to drink pop.

    What were your faves this month?

    Love,

    jen

  • Review | Coastal Scents Revealed 3 Palette

    Hi Everyone!

    I thought I would do a review and swatches of the Revealed 3 Palette from Coastal Scents. It’s a very nice palette for a beginner. I got this from a TopBox a while back and it’s been great for an everyday eye look. I mostly use the brown/taupe and gold shades. The first two shades are great to set your eyeshadow primer. It has a combo of matte and shimmery shades, but the majority are shimmery.

    The Revealed 3 palette features twenty all-new elegant eye shadows, in a stunning variety of hues and textures. Discover infinite possibilities with a combination of looks, perfect for every eye color.

    Swatches below are without using primer. The top two shades didn’t show up when I swatched them. On the left is the top row of shades, and the right is the bottom row.

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    I would suggest doing eyes before your foundation and concealer because the fallout can be quite bad. Sometimes I have to dust off my nose or fluff the shadow out of my hair.

    RATING: 4/5

    It’s not the best palette, but it was the first palette (with more than 4 shades) I ever owned. I mostly used single eyeshadows before and I have trouble deciding on which eyeshadow palette I want to actually purchase. Two of the ones I own were won in giveaways and this one I got from a subscription box. There are so many beautiful palettes out there, how can I decide?

    What palettes do you recommend?

    Love,

    jen

  • gummiband traceless hair cords

    Review | GummiBand Hair Cords

    Hi Everyone!

    Last year, I first heard about the hair cords that leave your hair dent-free. They were the brand Invisibobble and they sell at Sephora for $10 for 3. I thought that was a bit expensive, so I went on Amazon looking for dupes. I purchased a pack of 3 black and 10 mixed colour hair cords for $6.99. They’re very big (size of a wrist- they look like those cords that people put their keys on) and thick like a telephone cord. When I wrapped it around my hair three times, it’s still a bit loose.

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    I found out about GummiBands, based in Vancouver, from a blogger group on Facebook. They were had a casting call for Contributors, Partners and Ambassadors. For Partners and Contributors, you need a certain number of followers and they had a limited number of spaces. So, I applied to be a contributor for GummiBand and they sent me a variety of their hair cords. Although I received the bands for free, the following review is my honest and unbiased opinion on the GummiBand hair cords.

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    Light Pink, Brunette, Clear, Purple, Black, Dark Pink, Teal

    They offer Clear, Black, Brunette, Blonde, Light Pink, Dark Pink, Teal and Purple (I received a few of each colour except blonde). They retail for $7.99 CAD for a set of four hair cords and have free shipping in Canada. They gave me a code ‘BONUS38‘ for my readers to receive 2 extra GummiBands with the purchase of a 4-cord pack.

    gummiband hair cords

    Hypoallergenic (They do not absorb water or sweat so they do not breed bacteria)

    Suitable for all types of hair (Long and thick hair? Use 2 GummiBands for extra hold!)

    Gentle on hair, reducing breakage and styling damage

    Reusable for years. When the cord stretches out, warm it up with hot air from a hair dryer or hot water to return it to it’s original shape!

    GummiBand hair cords come with a 1 year full replacement warranty

    My hair is quite thick, so I wrap the cord around three times. I love that they’re plastic so if you get them wet, you don’t have to leave it out to dry like you would for an elastic. They don’t pull at your hair and they stay put (unlike regular hair ties where I have to adjust my ponytail after a few hours). After using them for a whole day, they are stretched out, but they get back into shape after a few minutes. When you put them around your wrist, they don’t make an indent around your entire wrist like a regular hair band. Although, they still make some indents from the spiral but it’s not as tight as a hair elastic.

    UPDATE (Feb 2018): I’ve been using one hair cord basically every day for a month and a half. I wrap it around my hair three times and after a month or so, it was starting to curl like a figure 8 (but it wasn’t stretched out at all). I filled up my sink with some hot water and soaked it for less than a minute and it sprang back to place. It’s like new again!

    UPDATE (Aug 2019): I have since purchased a few packs for myself and family. I had put quite a few of the Gummiband hair cords in giveaways, and found myself with only a few left.

    RATING: 5/5

    GummiBands are a great stocking stuffer or for birthday party loot bags. I love the variety of colours that they have, they have both fun colours and colours that blend in with your hair if you don’t want it noticeable.

    Have you tried hair cords? Do you like them better than regular hair bands?

    Love,

    jen