All posts by Chelle

Holiday 2017: What I’m Buying & Passing On

October 4, 2017MakeupAnastasia Beverly Hills, Cover FX, Kat Von D, MAC, Sigma, Stila, Tarte, Too FacedChelle

It’s my absolutely favourite time of the makeup year because the holiday collections are coming at us hard and fast! There’s always so much to choose from, and I usually end up making a shortlist (errr something longlist…) of things I want and what I’m going to pass on. Here’s how my list stacks up so far.

The “To Buy” List

KAT VON D Everlasting Mini Liquid Lipstick Set

Starting off with the set I’ve already purchased – the Kat Von D Everlasting Mini Liquid Lipstick Set! I *loved* this set last year and was so, so excited to see that they’ve brought it back again this year. What’s even more amazing is that there isn’t a single duplicated shade from the previous year! I prefer minis because there’s no chance in hell I’ll be finishing a full sized tube any time soon. If you want to see swatches from this year’s line up, I’ll have a full video posted to my YouTube channel tomorrow.

Sigma Creme de Couture Eyeshadow Palette

This is another item I’ve already purchased and it’s currently in transit to me. The Sigma Creme de Couture palette will be my first foray into Sigma products, and it’s long overdue! This palette is actually a re-release from about five years ago. Back then, I had seen Leesha of xsparkage rave about this palette in multiple videos, but I had never pulled the trigger on purchasing it. Since it was limited edition, the palette eventually sold out before I decided to buy it. AND I WAS SO REGRETFUL! Several years passed, and they never restocked it, so it truly felt like one of the ones that got away. Imagine my surprise when, five or six years later, they’ve decided to re-release it! I couldn’t believe it – I’ve never seen a brand do something like this half a decade later! Of course I snatched it up and am eagerly awaiting it in the mail.

Too Faced Unicorn Survival Kit

This one is causing me a little bit of panic because I haven’t seen any kind of release date advertised anywhere AND the Too Faced Unicorn Tears lipstick is an Ulta exclusive item. So does that mean this will only be available at Ulta?? Either way, the Too Faced It’s available on Ulta.com now MUST BE MINE. I’ve been itching to get the Unicorn Melted Latex (which was only recently released on Too Faced‘s web site) and I’m dyyyying to see what that blue-ish-purple highlighter looks like!

UPDATE: It’s available on Ulta.com now! Go get it quickly because I don’t know how much stock they have and they sold out REALLY fast on TooFaced.com!

Too Faced Gingerbread Melted Matte

Ohhh yes! Last year Too Faced released a specially scented Candy Cane Melted Matte with pretty packaging, and this year they’re bringing it back in a Gingerbread version. I really love that they’re creating one new shade and throwing some scent and pretty packaging on it. It feels like a makeup Christmas ritual to me now, and I will be really happy to add this to my collection!

Too Faced White Chocolate Bar Palette

This one isn’t actually released yet, but I did receive press information to indicate that this would be released with part of their holiday 2017 lineup. Does the makeup world need another chocolate bar palette? No, probably not. Am I going to get it anyway? Yes, absolutely. I’ll admit the colour assortment in this palette is very odd. I felt like it could’ve done with more pastel brights, but I’ll wait to reserve complete judgement until I’ve tried it out myself. Still, I have to keep my Too Faced Chocolate Bar family together right??

Stila Glitter & Glow Set

I’m about thirty seconds away from screaming bloody murder at this set. I WANT IT SO FREAKING BAD, and yet Sephora Canada has had it out of stock on their web site for going on three weeks now. Although it’s never actually shown up on the Canadian site, it’s readily available on the US side. I freaking LOVE the Stila liquid glitters and I have about four of them in the full size tubes. This set is great because it’s got six shades in mini format so you get a lot of bang for your buck. NOW IF ONLY IT WOULD COME IN STOCK ON SEPHORA.CA! ARGH!

Tarte Tartelette Toasted

Oh man, I want to get my hands on this one so badly too! The tarte Tartelette in Bloom came out of nowhere and slapped me in the face with how good it was, so I cannot wait to see how the Toasted palette is! The shades in this one are a bit more up my alley (although very similar to Urban Decay’s Naked Heat) so I’m super anxious to play around with them! This one should be out fairly soon!

MAC Snowball Collection

It’s been a long time since a MAC collection really drew me in, but holy smokes the packaging on the Snowball collection is beautiful! I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be picking up yet, but you can check out the entire colour story over on Temptalia.

The “Pass” List

Kat Von D Saint & Sinner Eyeshadow Palette

I can’t quite put my finger on why I’m passing on this palette. I love the crazy ornate packaging, I love KVD‘s eyeshadow formula… and I’ve seen swatches of this palette and it looks hella pigmented and gorgeous. BUT… there’s something about the eyeshadow layout that just isn’t speaking to me. I don’t feel especially inspired about this combination of colours, so I think I’ll just take a pass on it… for now.

Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops Set

So while I’m passing on this set because I already have two of the shades (Halo and Celestial), I actually think you should pick up this set if you have none of the shades. I freaking LOVE the Cover FX liquid highlighter formula – it has one of the most beautiful finishes I’ve ever seen and the colours are absolutely gorgeous.I’m so glad Cover FX has put out this set because it’s a great way to get access to several shades at once since the cost of this set is equivalent to the price of a single full size bottle!

Too Faced Bossy Lady + all of the items with agendas

I found the whole Too Faced Holiday 2017 collection kinda meh to be honest (which really saddened me). I’m not a paper planner person and I’m so not interested in planner decorating either, so this entire range of products just left me feeling deflated. Although it seems they’ve started manufacturing their holiday palettes in the US again and I believe the quality is markedly better, I just don’t see the point in picking up these sets when I’m super not into the planners. There is, of course, repetition amongst the eyeshadow shades year over year, and since I own the last three years of holiday sets, I don’t really feel like these have anything new to offer me. Instead, I’ll dump my money on the Unicorn Survival Kit and the other items that seem unique to me!

Tarte Blush Bliss Palette

There’s a few things with the palette I’m a bit iffy on. First of, I love the colour selection – those shares are right up my alley… BUT – they’re all too similar. They are way too same samey and I’d like some variety if I’m going to be purchasing a blush palette. Number two… there’s no bronzer. And I realize Tarte hasn’t put in a bronzer since the Off The Cuff palette (which is my freaking favourite), but ever since they did that, I now expect them to put in a bronzer. I bring my Off The Cuff palette with me everywhere I travel, and a large part of that is the variety of shades plus the bronzer it houses. Number three… I think Tarte is still outsourcing their holiday products to China and I’m a bit tired of the quality inconsistencies… so this is just a pass for me.

The “I’m Not Sure” List

Anastasia Beverly Hills Prism Palette

Oh man, I do not know what to do about this one. I have a few ABH palettes that I absolutely love, and there have been a few times where I’ve really kicked myself for not getting some of their limited edition items. However, if this palette is made with the same formula as the Subculture palette (which I did not like and promptly returned), then I want nothing to do with it. So yeah… not sure about this one.

And that’s about it! Phew, that was a long list. Of course, there’s other things I’ve considered, but I think this post was long enough and was really focused on the items that caught my eye the most this holiday season. I’d love to hear what you’re going to be picking up or ignoring this holiday makeup season!

Some links may be affiliate links.

VIDEO: September 2017 Beauty Favourites

October 3, 2017Favourites, YouTubeChelle

Swatch Sunday: tarte Tarteist Pro

October 1, 2017Makeup, SwatchesTarteChelle

tarte Tartist Pro

A long overdue swatch post as I’ve already completed a full Challenge Week for this one back in August! This is the ever so gorgeous tarte Tarteist Pro palette!

tarte switched things up for us and offered 16 matte shades with only 4 shimmer foils! Since it’s usually the reverse of this, I’m very happy to see matte shades being pushed to the forefront here.

The tarte Tarteist Pro palette can be purchased on sephora.ca for $69 CAD and on sephora.com for $53 USD.

tarte Tarteist Pro Swatches

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.

Skincare Saturday: Lierac Skincare Review

September 30, 2017Reviews, SkincareLieracChelle

Lierac Laboratories

Lierac is a brand I’d heard nothing about, but was pleased to find that they have an ENORMOUS skincare range with a lot of options for everyone. I was sent a ton of items from their Hydragenist range (for my dry-combination skin) to test out, and I’ve got some thoughts, so let’s dive in!

The first part in your morning skincare routine suggested by Lierac is using the Hydragenist Morning Moisturizing Mist ($45 CAD). The mist is intended to rehydrate and replump your skin (as is the whole range, really) once you’ve woken up. The idea behind it is that it can erase pillow marks while replumping your skin. I think that’s cute, but I’m not generally covered in pillow marks, so I couldn’t tell you if it removed them. What I can tell you is that this is one of the most uniquely textured face mists I’ve ever tried. It’s intensely hydrating, which I wasn’t expecting given that it’s a face mist. The texture of it is like a liquid gel – you spray it on your face and then you’ll need to massage it in. For me, while this ended up being a nice refresher in the morning, I didn’t love it as part of my morning routine (honestly, it was a bit TOO hydrating and I don’t feel the need to use it before my morning shower either), but I did love it later in the evening combined with something else (I’ll get to that later).

The next step was to use the Lait Micellaire ($29 CAD) to cleanse my face. While this does incorporate some makeup removal aspects, I’ve only ever used this as a face wash. And my face washes don’t need to remove my makeup as far as I’m concerned (I’ve got oils for that!) so I was really pleased with how gentle this felt on my skin. I’m a fan of milky cleansers anyway, and this Lait Micellaire combined with a konjac sponge was really, really nice at scrubbing away the sleepies on my face in the morning.

Lierac Laboratories - Lotion Gélifiée, Hydragenist Moisturizing Cream and Moisturizing Serum — Lierac Laboratories – Lotion Gélifiée, Hydragenist Moisturizing Cream and Moisturizing Serum

With my butt out of the shower, it’s time to keep going with the other aspects of getting my skin prepped and ready for makeup.

The Lotion Gélifiée (which is your toner) is very similar in texture to the Morning Moisturizing Mist, only slightly thicker overall. I started out by applying it to a cotton round to apply to my face… but gave up on that quickly once I realized the texture was more akin to a serum than a toner. Overall, this one isn’t one of the products I’m that enamoured with. It goes on okay-ish, but I felt like it did more to dry out my skin than hydrate it. Which kind of makes sense given that this product is intended to tighten your pores.

You can, however, skip the Lotion and go straight to the Hydragenist Moisturizing Serum, which I felt was better for my skin overall. This felt like a dream on my skin – quite relaxing and smoothing. Personally, if you’re picking and choosing from this range, I’d opt for the Serum over the Lotion!

The last step is, of course, moisturizer. And I gotta say, the Hydragenist Moisturizing Cream ($70 CAD) is no freaking joke. This cream is targeted towards people with dry to very dry skin so you know it’s going to be extra hydrating. For me though, this was too much in the mornings. It’s a LOVELY cream and it does the job, but for my dry to combination skin this was overkill in the mornings. I instead opted to wearing this at night alongside the Moisturizing Mist. I’d squirt a few pumps of the mist onto my face at night, massage it in, and then follow it up with the Moisturizing Cream and wear it as an overnight face mask. I think this’ll work for EXCEPTIONALLY dehydrated skin on a day to day basis, but for me this was something that was a tad too heavy for day to day wear.

Lierac Laboratories - Moisturizing Rescue Mask — Lierac Laboratories – Moisturizing Rescue Mask

And lastly, if you need a quick hydrating boost to your skin, look no further than the Moisturizing Rescue Mask ($47 CAD). This one was very similar to the moisturizer, except you get it done faster by wearing this for about 20 minutes or so. I used this immediately once I got back from our 24 hour travel time from our trip to Australia and I didn’t suffer from the dried out skin issues that I usually do the few days after I’ve been off a plane. Success!

This whole range by Lierac is scented with rose, jasmine and gardenia. Hilariously, I don’t like ANY of those scents, but each of the notes is not so pervasive that they stand out. For whatever reason, once they’re all combined, it’s just a “nice” scent. Not overpowering and not cloying, which I highly appreciate.

Top picks for me?

Moisturizing Rescue Mask – that thing is a total winner and a skin saviour as far as I’m concerned!
Lait Micellaire – super nice face wash. Love this one!

Let me know if you’ve heard of Lierac before and if you’ve tested out their products – I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Lierac can be purchased on beautyboutique.ca and on lierac.ca.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.

Fitness Friday: Blackmores Sydney Running Festival Half Marathon

September 29, 2017Fitness, Runninghalf marathon, Race, Racing, Run, RunningChelle

Finally! I hadn’t run a half marathon all year and I was starting to feel really weird about it. I like to run two a year, but this was my first one of 2017, which feels weird given that it’s in September. I usually like to space my half marathons out a bit more so I spend more time training overall.

But anyway, I was equal parts excited and nervous about this race. Excited because I was going to be running in beautiful Sydney, Australia. We were going to run across the Harbour Bridge and see absolutely beautiful vistas of the city. But I was also nervous because this was my earliest race starting time to date. The race STARTED at 6 am – which meant I had to get up at 4 am (the grossest hour of the day) to eat breakfast so that I could properly digest everything before the race. And the other reason I was nervous was that once we got to Sydney, we discovered just how very much NOT FLAT the downtown area is. There are some seriously vicious uphills in Sydney and I was more than a bit horrified.

If you’ve been following me on Snapchat (snap is “muyourmind”), you’ll notice I tend to talk a lot more about fitness on there. But for those of you who don’t follow me: I was plagued with about a month of sickness after we moved into our new condo in August. Between unpacking, painting, and whatnot, my husband and I constantly had some kind of cold we kept passing back and forth to each other. It was so bad that I couldn’t work out for 4-5 weeks, which meant I was incredibly nervous about my physical capacity to finish this race. Once I finally got over the various sicknesses, I had only two weeks left to exercise before we left for the first leg of our trip which was in Bali. I knew I’d have zero chances of running the week we were in Bali (which is where we went before Australia) because even the nighttime temperature hovers around 27 degrees and my body and lungs just can’t handle that for running.

Thankfully, before I got sick I had been following my half marathon training plan to a T which saved me a lot of pain later on. Had I slacked on it, I would’ve been completely set up for failure. So I was able to utilize the two weeks before vacation really, really well. It meant doubling up on long runs during the week, but by the end of the two weeks I felt moderately comfortable that this was a race I may not do amazing in, but that I would at least be able to complete with my dignity intact. With this in mind, I was hoping to complete the race in about two hours and ten minutes.

Fast forward to race day. I got up at 4 am and ate my breakfast, and, miraculously, I didn’t feel vomitous. There’s something about getting up that early that usually makes me feel like I want to heave, but I didn’t have any of that this time. I ate my breakfast (granola and yogurt (or oatmeal) before a race – always), then went back to bed and sort of just rested for the next hour or so before I had to get up and out the door. The lovely city of Sydney has an absolutely subway system that was up and running by time I caught a train at 5:15 am from King’s Cross over to the race start zone at Milson’s Point. I went by myself since it really wasn’t necessary to get David out of bed just escort me to the start line. The only thing that was a bit poopy about that was that I had to wear nothing but what I was racing in to the starting zone. And given that this was a 6 am start time and Sydney was finishing up their winter season, it was very brisk 6 degrees when I left our AirBNB in Darlinghurst!

I got to the start zone about five minutes before the race started, which was PERFECT. We started off the race without kerfuffle (honestly, it was a pretty subdued start – I think because it was so freaking early.). The first part of the course forces us to run up an incline, loop around and then we get on the Harbour Bridge. I’m not generally one to take pictures during a race because it’s detrimental to keeping your race pace, but since I figured I wasn’t going to be busting out any kind of personal best this race, I wanted to document some of the neat things I saw on this race. And that shot of us running over the bridge was one of those moments. It was like “ohhh wowwwwww!” (Pictured above.)

Another one of those moments was this sadly blurry shot. We were running down an offramp (maybe an onramp?) that I think accessed Harbour Bridge. It was so freaking cool for all of us to be tunneling down this ramp together. I loved seing the rock walls on either side of us.

And of course how could I not take this photo? The sun had fully risen at this point and there’s the Sydney Opera House in the background. The green balloon ahead of me is the 2:10 pace bunny. Which is funny, because I had thought that I was ahead of her by this point!

The race course itself was one of the most interesting ones I’ve done to date. The course meandered through a lot of downtown Sydney and while there were a lot of switchbacks, it never felt awkward. That being said… there were a lot of inclines. The course avoided a lot of the bad ones I’d become aware of in the core, but they were still there and they were an energy sucker. That being said, I was putting out an insane pace for this race to start off with. For the first 10 kilometers or so I was pushing a pace of 5:50 per kilometer and I honestly thought “holy crap, I will actually nail a pb!”. I felt amazing – my body was happy to be running, I didn’t feel sick from being up so early and the temperature was cool which meant I could breathe easily.

Sidenote: this race had the best manned water stations I’ve ever seen. Each station had loads of volunteers (amazing, given the hour of day) and plenty to drink. I was able to guzzle water and non-branded “electrolyte drink” at every station. Some of them had jelly bean gels, and, even better for me, a few of them had GU gel packs. I had forgotten to pick up any gels for this race, so when I saw the gel packs around kilometer 12 I was elated. Even more amazing? They were actually chilled! If you’ve gone and downed a gel pack mid-race you know that they generally tend to be warm and gross by the time you eat them. (Usually because you’re carrying them on your body and they’ve warmed up, or they’ve been sitting in the sun for a while.) Not these gels! They were blissfully cooled which made choking them down so much easier (because, let’s get real – those gels aren’t exactly the most fun things to shove down your throat while you’re running).

Despite my excitement over myself race, around the 16th kilometer my left knee started to suffer. And it was weird because it came out of absolutely nowhere. In my training runs I hadn’t had any joint issues (but I also hadn’t been running this fast either nor doing these uphills) so I was really taken aback when it got so bad that just bending at the knee was problematic. I forced myself to start doing kickbacks with my legs in order to loosen up the knee joint, and it worked long enough for me to cross the finish line at a gallop (but dang if it wasn’t painful), but at this point my pace had slowed down so much that it made my previous quick pace irrelevant.

In the end, I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 2:09:21. Which is under the 2:10 I wanted! A personal best for me would’ve been under 2:07 or so, but given all of the circumstances that lead up to this race and how I felt towards the end of the race, I am EXTREMELY happy with this result!

Race Results

Finish Time: 2:09:21
Pace: 6:07 per kilometer
Overall placement: 4845/7219
Age group placement (Female 30-34 years): 33/539
Gender placement (F): 1888/3434