All posts by Chelle

Fitness Friday – Shoulder Injury

December 13, 2013Fitness, WeightliftingChelle

So this happened:

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It’s all downhill after 30, kids.

Honestly, I know it doesn’t look like much, but so far it’s knocked me out commission for the past four weeks and it’s driving me crazy. Like the old person I am, about four weeks ago I felt a really sharp pain in my shoulder while reaching for a pen at work.

😐

I was not impressed.

I couldn’t help myself from Googling the symptoms. So, like everyone else who thought looking up their symptoms on the internet was a good idea, I came to the conclusion that I had cancer. Well… that or I’d torn something in and around my rotator cuff. After a week of pain so bad that I was holding my arm tucked tightly to my body for fear of hurting it even more, I decided it was finally time to see my family doctor about the problem. At this point I wasn’t able to lift my arm over my head without extreme pain.

The doctor narrowed right in on the pain point and suspected it had something to do with my rotator cuff. I went for an ultrasound and xray the next day and was given a referral to start physiotherapy immediately.

The results came back after a week or so. and thankfully I didn’t have a torn rotator cuff (or cancer, for that matter, thanks Google.). What I did seem to have was a cyst in my rotator cuff region with a lot of fluid around my bicep tendon which was causing inflammation. The physiotherapist had already pretty much suspected that I had tendinitis in my upper bicep after the physical tests he’d done on me, so it was nice to have some reassurance that it wasn’t anything worse. He believes the cyst will get reabsorbed into the body as he works on healing the tendinitis. He tapes me up every time I leave, and surprisingly, that little bit of tape seems to do wonders for arm movement – I almost have full range of motion back in my shoulder with little to no pain.

Unfortunately, this has meant no weight lifting or gymnastics for the past four weeks. It’s been frustrating, to say the least. I had finally gotten to the point in lifting where I wasn’t looking like quite so much of a chump with a barbell across my shoulders doing squats! And I was finally bench pressing more than just the bar itself! Thankfully, I’ve been able to continue playing soccer and keep up with my running, so my exercise hasn’t come to a complete standstill. With the way things are going though, this should be almost completely healed in a few more weeks. *fingers crossed*

What’s On My Face – Vol. 6

December 9, 2013Makeup, TutorialsBourjois, INGLOT, L'Oreal, Laura Mercier, MAC, Maybelline, NYX, Physicians Formula, Revlon, Sleek, Tarte, Too Faced, Urban DecayChelle

Hey everyone! I’m going to try something new and insert diagrams for the eyeshadow portion of my looks – let me know if you find them useful (or not!).

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I did this look in an attempt to look Christmas-y themed for an event we were having mid-day at work without going too over the top. I did get a few looks regarding the crystals, but once people clocked on that it was for the event, it didn’t seem quite as odd to them! Having recently bought the Too Faced “A Few of my Favorite Things” palette, I wanted to make use of it right away!

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Eyes: (All Too Faced)

Tinsel was applied to the inner two-thirds of the lid.
Evergreen was applied to outer third and swept slightly into the crease.
Chocolate Milk was blended into the crease.
Cream Colored Ponies was used to highlight the brow with MAC‘s Silver Dusk layered on top.

I then used MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline to create a winged liner and applied L’OrealVoluminous Carbon Black to my lashes. The rhinestones were from a craft store and I usedDuo lash adhesive to get them to stick to my skin.

Lips: MAC Brick lipliner with Russian Red lipstick on top.

Cheeks: Too Faced Melt Into Spring with Dior Amber Diamonds to highlight.

Face: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum foundation in 52 Vanilla

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I loved this look! I wanted to wear something a bit more glitzy to go see Catching Fire (although really, I should’ve gone for an oranger/red theme@) and this is what I came up with.

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Eyes:

Inglot AMC Shine 28 over the lid and on the inner two-thirds of the lower lid.
Sleek Ink on the outer third of the lid and blended into the crease. I also applied it to the outer corner of my lower lid.

MAC Brule was used to highlight the brow. I then used MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline to create a winged liner and applied L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black to my lashes.

Lips: NYX Vanilla Cream Pie

Cheeks: Tarte Dollface with MAC Silver Dusk to highlight.

Face: No foundation.

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More messing about with Laura Mercier‘s Artist (2013 edition) palette.

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(All Laura Mercier)

Bamboo all over the lid.
Violet Ink in the outer corner.
Plum Smoke throughout the entire crease.
Vanilla Nuts to highlight the brow.

As per usual, L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes.

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A replication of a Makeup Geek look using the Naked 2 palette.

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Eyes: (All Urban Decay)

Verve on the very center of the lid.
YDK on the outer and inner corners of the lid (honestly, I don’t even think you can really tell).
Busted throughout the crease and to blend the shadows below it.
Foxy to highlight the brow.

For the winged liner I use MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline and applied L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black to my lashes.

Lips: MAC Brick lipliner with Russian Red lipstick on top.

Cheeks: Tarte Exposed

Face: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 52 Vanilla, Revlon Bronzed & Chic bronzer.

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I love how the iridescence of the white-gold mineral eye shadow makes the matte green actually sparkle. Beautiful colours.

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Eyes: I first applied NYX‘s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk all over the lid because I feel I really need a sticky white base for the mineral shadow I’m about to apply next.

Using the lighter, white-gold side of MAC‘s Burning: Illusionary Ambition duo, I applied that shade all over the lid.
Sleek Fern was applied into the outer corner and blended into the crease. Fern was used to line the outer half of the lower lash line.
I blended Urban Decay Naked into the upper crease to blend out the green shadow.
MAC Brule on the brow bone.

MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline to create a winged liner and applied L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black to my lashes.

Lips: Nothing

Cheeks: Physicians Formula Happy Booster Blush in Natural

Face: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 52 Vanilla with Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light to Medium.

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This is one of two staple looks that I have (‘ll post the other one at a later time). This is the more rushed, “need to get out the door” look. This look was predominantly created so I could finally finish up Haux, my oldest MAC shadow.

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Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Beige all over the lid.
MAC Haux in the outer corner and blended into the crease.
MAC Brule to highlight the brow and blend out the crease

Topped it off with L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara.

The Perfect Palette Tag

December 4, 2013Miscellaneous, TagsLaura Mercier, Maybelline, Sephora, Sleek, Tarte, Urban DecayChelle

The Perfect Palette Tag is one of my favourite tags going around YouTube and various blogs. So what makes my perfect palette? Let me tell you!

Best Packaging

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Hands down, the best packaged palette goes to Sleek and their 12 pan eyeshadow palettes. While I do have one of their brightest palettes pictured below (Mattes V1), there are also a myriad of other palettes to own that have different colour combinations in the exact same packaging.

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So what makes this palette packaged so perfectly? For starters, there’s not a lot of wasted space (aside from the slot for the eyeshadow sponge that comes with the palette). The packaging as a whole is rather slim and compact. It clicks shut, so you know it’s definitely closed and won’t pop open if you happen to be carrying it around. There’s also an overall feeling of sturdiness to the case, which, given that it’s a drugstore palette is pretty outstanding. Not to mention the mirror is absolutely huge! To give you an idea of size, it’s about 60% the length of Urban Decay‘s Naked palette and half the height! It’s super thin and if you have multiples of these, they stack really nicely.

Best Colour Payoff

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While this palette is new to me, it’s shown me just how good the quality of Laura Mercier‘s products can be. The Artist 2 palette has six matte and 6 shimmery shades, making it one of the easiest palettes to throw a look together quickly. The mattes are soft to the touch and blend smoothly (they remind of MAC’s Matte2 finish). The shimmery colours are intense – the dimension in the shade African Violet is especially impressive.

Most Versatile

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This one was kind of an obvious choice for my most versatile palette. Sephora‘s Smoky Studio 2 has the biggest colour range out of all the palettes I own. It even has a set of lip colours underneath the shadows. However, because the palette is so large, it doesn’t make it particularly easy to travel, despite how versatile it is.

(As a note, it does come with a pop-out packaging for travel where you can pick out sets of three sets of 3-eyeshadow columns and insert them into the package for travelling.)

Best for Travelling

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The original Urban Decay Naked palette has come with me on every vacation and every long weekend I have gone on since I got my hands on it. It’s been to France, Ireland, England and the US, to name a few. And not once has it failed me!

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I’m finally starting to hit pan on some of the shadows and I will definitely repurchase this if I were ever to run out. I do usually need to bring a few colourful shades to balance out the complete neutrality of this palette but this is definitely my pick when it comes to travelling with a single palette.

Biggest Regret

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Maybelline‘s quad eyeshadow (does this count as a palette?) is probably my biggest regret. Although that really isn’t saying much since this palette was only about $10. While the colours in the quad have lovely pigmentation, I was honestly suckered in by the name (Irresistible Ivy) and by the lovely green shade. Unfortunately, the reality is that I have a dupe for each of the shades in the palette. It’s not the end of the world really, but it’s kind of a bummer.

Best Colour Names

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Tarte‘s Off The Cuff palette is a very recent purchase for me but I still adore the names. And truthfully, it goes for all of Tarte‘s blushes – I just love the simplicity.

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The palette above has the shades Crave, Dazzled, Darling, Dollface and Park Avenue Princess. While you could say the shades are not all that ingenious, I just think they’re really sweet! In particular, the name of the bronzer, Park Avenue Princess, has held my fancy for quite a few years now. Plus the actual palette is called “Off The Cuff“, and it came with a cuff bracelet (not pictured). Come on now – that’s way too cute! (Or obvious, take your pick! 😉 )

(An honourable mention has to go to Too Faced‘s A Few Of My Favorite Things palette which I don’t actually own (yet), but with names like Whiskers on Kittens, how could you NOT love it?!)

Least Used

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Right back to Maybelline‘s Irresistible Ivy quad for least used. Too easily dupable, and not something I reach for very often.

Most Used, Most Loved, “Desert Island” Palette

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This almost feels too easy. Like Urban Decay‘s Naked palette should’ve had to work harder for this namesake.

Honestly, I feel like it’s a bit of a weird choice for me. In general, I prefer brightly coloured eyeshadow, but if I’m going by the namesake of the question, which is “most used, most loved”, then it has to be this one. This is the only palette I’ve actually hit pan on a few of the shades (Virgin, and Hustle has the faintest whisperings of pan) and the one I always bring on vacation. So just for that alone, this is definitely the one I reach for the most.

The Perfect Palette Tag was created by iluvfaces1042 on YouTube. Be sure to check out their video to see where this tag all started!

I’d love to hear about your favourite palettes! If you have a blog and did this tag, link it below so I can check it out. Or if you don’t have one, just let me know which palettes you own you feel best suit each category in your comment. Thanks for reading!

Review: NYX Butter Glosses (Entire Collection)

December 3, 2013Makeup, Reviews, SwatchesNYXChelle

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In a moment of madness, I picked up the rest of the entire NYX Butter Gloss line after having been gifted two by a friend. These may just be the be-all, end-all of glosses for me.

The glosses come in an assortment of shades, ranging from a few neutrals, to pinks, to peaches and finally to some oranges and one red. They are on the milkier side, which the lighter colours tend to display more. The brighter peaches and oranges tend to look more juicy than milky and come across as having a slightly gel-like appearance (although they don’t feel gel-like).

There is a slight tackiness, but it’s so slight that chances are you won’t even notice it, although it does give the gloss some grip on the lips to help increase the longevity of the product. I wouldn’t say these are especially long lasting, they are a lipgloss after all, but you can expect about two hours of wear before you’ll need to re-apply (assuming you haven’t been eating or drinking).

As for the scent/taste of the gloss… well it’s a bit bizarre. The shades have a lovely buttery, slightly vanilla, creamy scent to them (some smell stronger than others). It’s certainly a tasty scent! However, once you get the product on the lips, it does tend to actually taste like plastic. I don’t find the taste to be off-putting really, but it is something worth noting as they definitely do not taste the same way they smell. Some colours have more of a plastic taste than others, so it’s not completely widespread across the entire range. (At the moment, I’m wearing Peach Cobbler and it has one of the stronger plastic tastes.)

In my opinion, these Butter Glosses are an absolute must-have. My favourites out of the bunch are Creme Brulee, Strawberry Parfait and Vanilla Cream Pie.

See below for pictures and swatches of the entire collection of Butter Glosses.

NYX Butter Gloss in 01 Strawberry Parfait

The brightest, slightly fuschia, pink in the collection.

One of the milkier shades. Definitely pale, pink and milky.

NYX Butter Gloss in 03 Peaches and Cream

Looks quite coral/peach in the tube, but comes across as quite pink on my lips. I love this colour.

Merengue has a definite lavender tone mixed with pale pink. Very pale and milky in appearance.

A slightly pinky nude.

This one is super bright! Very orange in the tube, but comes across slightly redder on the lips.

The “pure” nude of the bunch. Slightly, pink/mauve tone.

Peach in the tube, slightly pinker on the lips.

NYX Butter Gloss in 09 Vanilla Cream Pie

Lovely mid-tone pink.

NYX Butter Gloss in 10 Cherry Cheesecake

Bright orange in the tube and on the lips.

Peachy pink with a slightly milky appearance.

The red out of the whole lot. Looks slightly gel-like on the lips.

The NYX Butter Glosses can be purchased at Ulta.com for $4.99 USD each.

November 2013 Favourites

December 1, 2013Favourites, MiscellaneousBourjois, Dior, NYX, Revlon, Tarte, The Body ShopChelle

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Time for my monthly roundup of the beauty products I’ve been reaching for the most over the month of November!

Tarte‘s Blissful blush is a fairly untraditional blush to be constantly using during the fall months, but it’s what I ended up reaching for the most. It’s definitely more of a summer shade since it’s quite coral, but for whatever reason I was gravitating towards it a lot throughout November. It’s a beautiful shade (and the first blush I ever owned!) that blends onto the skin wonderfully. It can go on the skin quite strong in pigmentation, so if you don’t want a very strong colour on your cheeks, apply it lightly and build up as needed.

After my NYX Butter Gloss buying rampage over the last month, I settled on using Creme Brulee the most. It’s a “goes with anything” shade, which makes it pretty painless when you can’t figure out what will match your eyeshadows. Smooth and creamy, *any* of the Butter Glosses are worth picking up!

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Cherries in the Snow

Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL shade. Revlon‘s Cherries in the Snow isn’t available for purchase in Canada as far as I can tell, so I remedied this problem for myself by buying it through Amazon.com. Personally, I find it to be a very deep, hot pink colour, but every time someone commented on my lips while I was wearing this, the person referred to it as “red”. As I’m finding with all of Revlon‘s Super Lustrous lipsticks, this wears smoothly, feels comfortable on the lips, and lasts for hours at a time.

DIOR Diorskin Shimmer Star in Amber Diamond

Dior‘s Amber Diamond is beautiful, although not necessarily that unique. I’ll admit it’s a beautiful compact – the product looks gorgeous and the compact has a rather large mirror (and no wasted space for those nasty brushes that some companies give you!), but the shade itself, while stunning, is not all that different in consistency from MAC‘s Soft and Gentle. That being said, it is slightly more amber/copper than Soft and Gentle which is what I wanted throughout November. I also feel like this is a neverending product – I’ve used this same powder off and on for over a year now and I have yet to see ANY dent in the product!

Revlon Photoready Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic

Revlon‘s Bronzed & Chic bronzer has four blocks of varying bronzer colour which allow for customization based on your own skin’s shade. Surprisingly, I dip more into the darker shade, although I end up applying it quite lightly. It’s completely matte, which can help balance off a very shimmery eye look. Since the product is so matte, it can also be used to contour your face, although this isn’t something I do personally.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in 52 Vanilla

As we move into the cooler months, I end up wearing less and less foundation (partly because I can’t stand how gross winter jacket collars can get when you see foundation stains on them). Since Bourjois‘ Healthy Mix Serum (currently wearing shade 52 Vanilla) is a very light, gel-like foundation, it’s a nice, easy one to wear that doesn’t feel heavy on the skin. The berry scent of the foundation makes applying the foundation feel rather refreshing, which is not something I’ve ever felt while applying any other foundation. It’s not the longest wearing foundation, so if you’re super concerned with having a flawless look that will last all day, then this may not be the foundation for you. For me though, it’s an everlasting favourite. As I get paler throughout the winter months, I also have the next shade down (51 Light Vanilla) ready and waiting!

The picture above pretty much speaks for itself – I finished this Coconut Body Butter fromThe Body Shop over the last month. The scent is long-lasting on the skin and smells pretty fantastic, although I wouldn’t call it a genuine coconut scent… it’s more the synthetic coconut scent that we’ve grown accustomed to in products over the years.

So that’s my monthly roundup of the products I’ve been loving. We’ll see what next month brings!