Christmas Ornament Nails

The inspiration for today's holiday nails came from a DIY project from YouTube's Ingrid Nilsen (aka Missglamorazzi). She's been doing a #DIYDecember series, with a new project everyday. One of her first projects of the month was DIY holiday cards. Both of her two card designs were adorable...

... and immediately needed to be on my nails. So! Here's my version of her Christmas ornaments design, using my nails as a canvas:

For colors I used China Glaze's Goldie But Goodie, Sinful Colors' Snow Me White, NYC's High Line Green (a birthday present from my sister - thanks Mal!), and Milani's Ruby Jewels:

Yes, that's a Sharpie.

Goldie But Goodie was actually one of the polishes in my swag bag at the #blogvancity event back in September, and it's a bit embarrassing for me to admit not trying it before now. Geez - what was I waiting for? This polish is gorgeous!

Ruby Jewels takes a few coats to be opaque, but it's totally worth it because that color is one of my favorites in my whole collection. (And for the amount of polish I own, I think that says a lot.) If you love sparkly red polishes for the holiday season, I highly recommend Ruby Jewels.

Drawing those black Sharpie lines wasn't that easy, as you can probably tell... but I kind of like the hand-drawn/imperfect look of it in the end.

I can't wait to use Goldie But Goodie again - what a gem that turned out to be. The fact that it was given to me for free is pretty cool, too. 

Do you have any fun holiday-related plans this weekend? I'm hoping to see some Christmas lights, drink some hot chocolate, and maybe go buy some snowshoes for the mini pre-Christmas vacation to Whistler that we're taking on Monday!

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{Linking up with The Nail Files and What I'm Loving Fridays}

New Favorite Eye Makeup Remover!

Confession, err'body:  I've never been a big fan of using eye makeup remover.

And by that I mean... I did not use it. Or own it. Or even look at it in the stores, really. It's supposedly awful practice, but I've always taken the more straight-forward and rough approach of using a wet washcloth in the shower to remove my mascara from my lashes. "Manually," if you will.  I'd grasp my lashes between my washcloth and basically pull on them from root to tip, removing mascara along the way. Pretty sure it's the best way to prematurely make your eyelids go bald, but WHO HAS TIME FOR REMOVING MAKEUP THE GROWN-UP WAY?

Well, apparently I do now.

I blame my new need for eye makeup remover on Maybelline's The Rocket Volum' Express mascara. Do you guys use this stuff? It's awesome - it really is... but good god it's difficult to remove! It acts like it's a waterproof mascara or something! (It isn't, I swear... I triple-checked.) So now that The Rocket is my everyday mascara and it refuses to just be muscled off, it's become time to re-evaluate my removal strategy. Maybe even actually use some of those eye makeup removers that I'd been gifted at the #blogvancity event back in September. (Read all about it here.)

So what did I discover?

THIS STUFF RIGHT HERE: 

.  and yeah, there's french all over it.  welcome to canada, y'all!  .

It's the Almay Longwear & Waterproof Gentle Eye Makeup Remover, and I was generously given a full-sized, 4-oz bottle of it in my #swagvancity #blogvancity gift bag. It is oil-based (which I know some people don't like), so you do have to gently shake it before each use to mix it all up. You can see in the pictures above that the oil separates and sits on top when the bottle has been left sitting.

In the month following #blogvancity, I tried out this product a couple of times... but since I wasn't in the habit of regularly using eye makeup remover, it didn't really catch on with me at first. However, the more I realized that The Rocket is seriously a biatch, the more I warmed up to the idea of using something gentler to remove it. Beauty requires some sacrifices, you know. Like giving up a long-standing practice of abusing your poor eye lashes with a washcloth.

I'm happy to report that, while it's still not a daily habit, I've started using this eye makeup remover a lot more lately. It's really gentle, just like the package says. After applying some of the product to a cotton pad (enough to soak the cotton pad through slightly), I just place the pad over my closed lid and move it in small circles over my lashes. And guess what? The Rocket slides right off! NOT SO HOT NOW, EH ROCKET? #TakeThat! (#ReallyGently!!)

Have you used this particular eye makeup remover before? I've tried a few brands, but this one is definitely my favorite so far. I'm going through this bottle pretty quickly though, so if there's a holy grail of eye makeup remover that you think I ought to know about, tell me in a comment!

I received this product fo' free in a gift bag from a blogger event, 

but all opinions are MINE! ALL MIIIIINE!!!!! MUAHAHAAHAH!

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New Beauty Products I'm Loving

Life has been VERY busy in the last month since I picked up a side job of making newsletters for a psychology website. It seems like I spend the majority of every weekday in my office chair in front of my laptop. I'm spending more time working than doing much of anything else, which has made for a suddenly boring blog. Not much time to do cool things and then take pictures of/write about said cool things. Hopefully I'll get the hang of this soon and find a better balance between working/living/blogging.

In the meantime, I have had time to make the occasional trip to London Drugs or 4th Ave for a random beauty product or two. Here are a few products I've gotten recently that I'm super pleased with:

Davines Melu Conditioner
I received a sample of this anti-breakage hair conditioner the last time I went into Canvas Salon for a haircut at the beginning of the summer. [As an aside, I've seen Quyen for haircuts at Canvas twice now and have been happy with the results each time.] The conditioner made my hair feel fan-freaking-tastic. I don't normally ever splurge on expensive hair products (or any products, really), but my hair has really been feeling like crap lately - dry, unhealthy, and breaking like crazy. So I headed up the hill to 4th Ave to scoop up a full sized version of this miracle conditioner for about $33 from Canvas.

This conditioner makes my hair feel completely quenched - and SO much stronger and healthier. After shampooing, I just work a 4-finger-scoop of this Melu conditioner into the ends of my hair and then work it upwards, so that I end up using the least amount of product on the roots of my hair. Since our scalps are naturally oily, there's less need to use conditioner up there. I keep massaging the conditioner into my strands for a few minutes, then comb through it with a wide-toothed comb before rinsing it all out. And bam - instant hair model shit. I would definitely say this conditioner is worth the cost - I feel I've done my hair a huge fave.  

Revlon ColorBurst Lip Gloss in Sunbaked
I got this lip gloss in my #blogvancity swag bag and it's one of my favorite items from the bag. It's a beautiful sunbaked berry color that is perfect for my skin tone for fall. This gloss has a really nice color pay off, though I do have to reapply every couple of hours - or after sipping on something.

I like the doe-foot applicator because you can adjust its width by rotating it, 

which makes application easier and more precise:

I love pairing Sunbaked with this other Revlon lip product I already owned - 

a Super Lustrous Lipstick in the color Blushing Mauve: 

eos Pomegranate Raspberry Lip Balm
My eyes are always drawn to the eos lip balm displays in stores because there always seems to be a new flavor that I haven't seen before. After standing in front of the display at London Drugs for a few minutes, trying to decide between the Pomegranate Raspberry balm and the Blueberry Acai balm, I decided that the raspberry one would be the flavor I'd probably use the most.

So glad I chose this one! It tastes yummy, yeah - but it FEELS awesome! It makes my lips feel soooo buttery smooth. It might be replacing the Sweet Mint as my favorite of all the eos lip balms I own.

Have you picked up any new beauty products lately that are really working for you? Have you tried any of the ones I've listed here?

{Disclaimer: I received the Revlon Color Burst lip gloss for free as part of a swag bag 

from a blogger event, but all opinions are MINE - ALL MIIIINE!!!!! MUAHAHAHA!!!}

Revlon Nail Art 3D Jewel Appliqués

In mid-September I attended a fun blogger event in Vancouver called Blog and the (Van)City, also known by its less formal title, #blogvancity. I showed you the excellent bag of swag that came home with me from the event in this blog.

One of the items in the bag-o-swag was a little kit of 3D Jewel Appliqués from Revlon. (So yes, I did get this product for free, but all thoughts are MINE. ALL MIIIIINE!!!! MUAHAHAHA!!)

These Revlon by Marchesa 3D Jewel Appliqués are in the style "Evening Garnet," and they come in a kit with 18 stickers (I'm going to stop calling them appliqués now because I'm really not classy enough to pull it off)...

.  minus the one i used  .

... As well as a mini nail file and a plastic pressing tool to help with the application process:

So as you might suspect, you choose which nail art sticker is the best size for each nail, peel it off, and stick it onto your nail.  Use the pressing tool to smooth it down onto the entire surface of your nail, making sure to press down around the edges to really stick it on there well! Then use the mini filer to file the excess sticker length from the tip of your nail

I decided to do just one accent nail on each hand using these appliqués (oops, I said it again). Since my nails are pretty small, I was actually able to use just one sticker for both of the accent nails.

However, because my nails are so small, most of this pack of stickers is not really going to work for me! I need more of the smaller ones and fewer of the larger ones... or I just need them to scale down the entire pack.

It would be amazing if someday nail sticker manufacturers could make boxes of them in different sizes, so that you could choose small, medium, or large. Because hey, some of us are circus freaks with tiny hands.

On all my other nails I used a China Glaze polish that was also part of my #blogvancity swag bag - Kiss My Glass from the Fall 2013 line from CG. It's a dark, slate sort of blue with a slightly silvery sheen. My nails are still "recovering" from the extreme nail filing I gave them last week, so the brush of the CG polish was a little overwhelming (read: large) for my tiny little nails. The polish got EVERYWHERE when I was applying it; I felt like a preschooler trying to paint my nails. #Oy.

So now for my actual thoughts about these Revlon by Marchesa 3D Jewel Appliqués, after wearing them for most of a day. Yep, it only took that long to form some thoughts. They're cute, easy to apply, and I kind of like the bumpy texture on top of my nail. The end of my nail (where I'd filed off the excess sticker) was a bit rough and was catching on things a little bit, but nothing major. The real "issue" was that I took a shower later in the day and one of the stickers popped right off! I didn't even notice for another 20 minutes or so afterwards, when I looked down and noticed that the accent nail on my right hand was totally naked. So I guess you should wear these after your daily shower for best results.

What do you think of the jewel appliqué look? Will you be trying out this Revlon 3D nail art sticker line?

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{Linking up with The Nail Files, Friday's Fab Favorites,  What I'm Loving Fridays, Friday's Five} 

My First Blogger Event: Blog and the (Van)City

I started blogging almost a year ago and have felt for a long time like I wanted to be part of a blogging community here in Vancouver. I knew there were other Vancouver bloggers around - this is a pretty big and happening city, after all - but I couldn't fiiiind them. Where the heck was everybody?? #OllyOllyOxenFree!!

So when a month ago I caught wind of the #blogvancity hashtag that was popping up on Twitter (thanks to the retweet account @Vancouver_rt), I was excited and curious. What the heck was #blogvancity? How could I be a part of it? Well I had no idea, but the September 14th event went straight onto my calendar anyway.

After a few weeks and plenty of tweets exchanged with two of the event organizers, Sheila and Jordana, I received my invite for the event, formally called Blog and the (Van)City. Here's a bit of the event description:

"Blog and the (Van)City is a mini-conference designed to build a community of fashion and beauty bloggers that will support and learn from each other."

Yup, sounded like exactly what I had been looking for!

Before continuing, I should point out that I don't really classify myself as a "beauty blogger." In fact, it's quite hard for me to classify myself as anything, given that I blog about nail polish, food, hiking, mountains, restaurants, thrift shopping, workouts, music, Vancouver, my travels, and just about any other random thing I feel like posting. But I do post a nail polish blog every Friday, which technically makes about 1/4 of my content "beauty" content. Thus, here I was on the guest list for a beauty and fashion blogger event. ;)

So last Friday afternoon (Friday the 13th... ooooh spooky) I had the idea to make my own business cards for the event - and that's how I spent my Friday night and Saturday morning:

.  biznasssss cards  .

On Saturday early afternoon, I headed to Burnaby to Metropolis at Metrotown, where Blog and the (Van)City was being held in the Sears Community Room.

And here is what I very hastily applied to my nails on my way out the door to the event - China Glaze's Recycle, with a couple coats of Love & Beauty's Crystal Silver on my ring finger for some extra sass:

.  literally took this pic in the car on the way to metrotown  .

I arrived to a room full of fabulous looking ladies milling around, as well as a spread of sushi, fruit, veggies, lemon squares, sparkling apple cider and soda:

.  fewd and treats  .

There was also a Lush demo table set up, with both Ocean Salt and their Rose Jam shower gel being demo'd by some friendly Lush employees. (Sidebar - is anyone else certain that there is no nicer person on the planet than a Lush employee?? They're consistently amazing humans.) There was also a variety of Lush products available for sale there - like bath bombs, soaps, massage bars, and lotions.

.  lush brings all the boys to the yard  .

I met about 20-25 other bloggers before hearing from the panel of experts who answered all of our questions about how to work with brands or companies, how to maintain a blogging schedule, and what to do when we run out of ideas!

The panel members included:

• Cynnamon Schreinert - Associate at Hartley PR, who was there on behalf of Hartley PR's client, London Drugs
• Brandi Halls - Director, Brand Communications, Lush North America
• Sarah Murray - Style Director, Fashion Capsule Communications (a PR agency for local fashion boutiques)
• Alison Leong - local blogger at Alison-Elle.com
• Jordana - local blogger at JustJ.ca

It was a really valuable Q&A session - everyone had fascinating questions and ideas, and it was good to hear advice about keeping a blogging schedule or the best way to approach a brand about sponsoring posts. I also learned some new tricks about how to alert a brand that you've written about them. I've already begun to put some of this new knowledge to use, so the event was definitely beneficial for me.

On top of learning a lot about "professional" blogging, meeting a ton of other Vancouver bloggers was seriously just what I needed. I already feel more like a part of a community - several of us have been tweeting with each other this past week and getting familiar with each other's blogs. At the end of this blog, I'll include a list of all the bloggers (and vloggers!) that were in attendance at the event, so YOU can check them out too!

Before we all left for the afternoon, we were completely showered with swag. This was my first blogging event, so swag is definitely new to me. I... didn't mind it. Here's the rundown on the gewdies:

Nail polish duos from China Glaze's Fall 2013 Autumn Nights Collection, c/o Nail Polish Canada: 

.  yesssss  .

And a whole buttload of Revlon, Almay, Marcelle, and Annabelle products:

My swag bag contents:

.  ALL MINE  .

Products included:

• Pink-A-Boo Eyeshadow Quad from Annabelle
• Revlon Crazy Shine Nail Buffer
• 3 pots of Almay Eye Makeup Remover
• China Glaze - Kiss My Glass
• China Glaze - Goldie But Goodie
• Marcelle DD Cream (really excited to try this!)
• Revlon Colorstay Smoky Shadow Stick (w/ bonus Liquid Eye Pen)
• Revlon by Marchesa Nail Art 3D Jewel Appliques
• Revlon ColorBurst lip gloss in Sunbaked
• Double Precision Liquid Eyeliner Pen from Marcelle (double-ended with a thinner eyeliner tip on one end and a thicker tip on the other end)
• 2 Anabelle Retractable Eyeliners - One in Jet Black and one in Twilight (greyish purple)
• Marcelle Waterproofing Mascara Top Coat (never even heard of such a thing!)
• Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede lipstick in the shade Runway
• Revlon File 'n Peel 6-in-1 Nail File (you peel away old layers to reveal new ones as needed)
• Alchemy eyeshadow trio from Annabelle
• Revlon Chalkboard Nail Art
• Almay Longwear & Waterproof Gentle Eye Makeup Remover
• 15% off coupon for Jukeboxprint.com (where I can print real business cards)
• There's also a little square blush quad but it doesn't have any brand name on it at all, so I don't know what it's called or who it was made by!

In upcoming posts, I'll write more about individual products that I'm using/enjoying out of all this swag. The nail products are the most exciting for me, as you can imagine. But I've also been trying out the makeup removers and the lip products, and am totally intrigued by the whole idea of a DD cream...

One of the cooler parts of this entire experience was seeing my blog name in writing:

Hopefully there will be another blogger event with this group of ladies in the not-so-distant future. Even if there isn't an organized event soon, I hope to be able to meet up in Vancouver with some of the ladies I met and do some shopping or spend some blogging time together in a coffee shop.

Sidebar - I just added Google Friend Connect to the right column of my blog (um, weren't they supposed to be doing away with GFC back in July?), so if you aren't following me there yet please do connect and add me to your reader reel :) You can also follow me on Bloglovin by clicking the button at the bottom of this post.

Oh and thank you to Raine over at Spuddy Buddies for the kind words and shoutout in your Blogs I'm Loving post on Friday. It was a very nice thing for me to read, and I really appreciate your taking the time to read my blogs... That last bit goes for all of you who have made it to this line. ;)

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{Linking up with Miscellany Mondays and Tell Us Tuesday}

The other #blogvancity bloggers/vloggers:

Alison -http://www.alison-elle.com

Amy -http://eyeshadowaddict.squarespace.com

Angela - http://dowantmakeup.ca

Ania - http://www.youtube.com/user/annabellesmakeup

Ashley- http://makeupkismet.blogspot.ca/

Carolyn -https://www.youtube.com/makeitupcanada

Denise - http://www.denisechavez.com/

Jayne - http://www.cosmeticproof.com/

Jenelle - http://www.kittenonthecatwalk.com

Jordana - http://justj.ca

Lauren - http://www.youtube.com/makinguplauren

Li Lian - http://shortwidenails.blogspot.ca/

Lydia - http://www.perfectlyimperfectbeauty.com/

Mikayla - http://www.youtube.com/user/MissMikaylaG

Nina - http://www.ninaonthemoon.com/

Rosie - http://style-love.blogspot.ca/

Sarah - http://cooperscloset11.blogspot.ca

Sellina - http://www.thelookoutblog.com

Sheila - http://maddyloves.com

Viv - http://lifeinthecity.pixnet.net/blog

Whitney - http://macaronsandmischief.com