Category Archives: Events

Happily Ever Essence Event + Giveaway!

Events, Makeup

Last Thursday, I attended the Happily Ever Essence event – a launch party for essence‘s Spring/Summer 2015 collection. The event was held at Casa Loma, which made for not only some stunning pictures, but hilariously, turned a lot of us into tourists in our own city as very few people had actually been there before!

Casa Loma for the Happily Ever Essence event
Casa Loma for the Happily Ever Essence event

Having come straight from work, I met up with some fellow bloggers on the subway (Sam from Gemstone Beauty and Steph from fun size beauty).

Headed down the purple carpet.
Headed down the purple carpet.

After we’d climbed the stairs of doom (if you’ve been to Casa Loma, and came from Dupont station, you know what I’m talking about) we were sent immediately to the basement where a purple carpet was stretched out before us. Impossibly cute touches on the wall included posters of new essence makeup releases.

Sam and I (Photo: Katherine Holland)
Sam and I (Photo: Katherine Holland)

We were bang on time, so the Screening Room had yet to fill up. To set the scene, the room was filled with an aura of purple light, essence branded bags, towels, drop cloths and limited edition product props were littered throughout the dungeon-esque room. The Princess Bride was playing on loop via projector at the back of the room. It was beautiful!

New essence products and a super sweet purple drink
New essence products and a super sweet purple drink

They even created a purple drink especially for the occasion (although I can’t for the life of me remember what was in it). We got the low down on some of their new products as well as some old staples. My points of interest were the Lash Princess and Plump NO clump!mascaras and a brand new 2-in-1 liquid liner that has a chisel tip on one end.

Holding my purple drank
Holding my purple drank
The old timey candy shop area
The old timey candy shop area
Sadly, the grammar mistake was one of the first things I noticed. *gasp*
Sadly, the grammar mistake was one of the first things I noticed. *gasp*
Canadian Beauty Bloggers at Happily Ever Essence
Canadian Beauty Bloggers at Happily Ever Essence

I managed to snag a shot with several of the CBBers at the event, so be sure to check them out as well!

I had a wonderful time (seriously, this event went on for three hours and I loved every second of it – usually they last for an hour and by then everyone is ready to pack up and leave!), got my nails did for the first time ever (no really) and then walked out with an enormous bag of makeup to try out!

Giveaway Time!

And this is where the giveaway comes in! I received a ton of product that I either will not use (looking at you, lip gloss), received duplicates of, or straight up already had them in my collection. I checked with the company and they are more than happy to allow me to giveaway the extra products to my readers!

So here’s what’s up for grabs, some of it is brand new releases, some from limited editions, and some even from the regular line:

  • Eyeshadow: #cloud number nine, always on my mint, smokey night trio, smokey day trio, irresistible first love
  • Lip gloss: Fabulous Fuchsia, Cute Pink
  • Lipstick: Nude Love, On the Catwalk!
  • Nail polish: Let the stars rain down on me!, L.O.L.
  • Mascara: Lash princess, PLUMP NO clump!
  • And a package of glow in the dark nail stickers!

Details

  • Open internationally!
  • Giveaway runs for two weeks starting today – May 2, 2015.
  • One winner will receive all of the products listed above (however, if your country does not allow nail polish to be shipped in, I’ll remove those from the prize).
  • Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make Up For Ever Spring 2015 Preview

Events, Makeup

Last weekend, when the snow was still coating the ground, I had the the downright pleasure of attending the Make Up For Ever 2015 spring product preview in downtown Toronto.

Checking out MUFE 2015 spring products at the deanery
Checking out MUFE 2015 spring products at the deanery

Held in the revamped deanery attached to St. James Cathedral, MUFE showcased a handful of bloggers their new offerings for spring 2015.

Getting informed on the new primers and sculpting duos
Getting informed on the new primers and sculpting duos

The focus was primarily on their newly redone primers which now come in a variety of colours depending on your specific needs (radiants primers to help enhance your skin tone as well as mattifyers, hydrators, and colour correctors). They indicated that they knew their previous green colour corrector was far too green, and they’ve taken steps to tone down the colouring to better correct redness. Huge props to a brand that realizes they need to change one of their products!

10 brand new primers to choose from!
10 brand new primers to choose from!

We were given the choice to pick out two primers that would work for us. I went with the hydrating one (since hitting my thirties, I seem to need more and more moisture on my face), as well as the pink-toned radiant base which will work especially well in the summer (we think the blue would’ve bee a bit too ashy on me as we enter the summer months). Unfortunately they ran out of the pink primer, so a review will be forthcoming on the primers once I have both in my hands.

I like that they offered such a wide range of bases as it seemed anyone hovering around nw/nc15 right up to nw/nc50 should have plenty of options to choose from. The idea with the new system is to choose a primer that targets the texture of your skin (oily, dry, etc.) and then follow it up with a second primer that focuses on improving the tone of your skin.

Two new sculpting duos
Two new sculpting duos

Also brand new from MUFE is their Pro Sculpting Duo in two shades. Duo #1 is a pink beige (light with cool undertones) and Duo #2  is golden (tan with warm undertones). The compacts are simply stunning – they come with a huge mirror and two beautifully pressed products within. At first glance, I’d venture to say the sculpting shade looks more like a bronzer, but I’ll try it out both ways and see how it works on me.

Two new lipstick shades and a brand new mascara
Two new lipstick shades and a brand new mascara

There’s also two brand new shades of the Rouge Artist Intense lipstick (54, a pearly golden pink and 53, a pearly pink copper) and the new Smoky Stretch mascara. I loved their Smoky Extravagant mascara so I’m looking forward to trying this one out too, especially since it appears to have a better sized brush for my own lashes.

Swag bag!
Swag bag!

The swag bag was not only generous, but it was also targeted to products that would work well for each of us individually. I received the Hydrating Primer, the Pink-toned radiant primer (forthcoming as they ran out at the venue), the Smoky Stretch mascara, theSculpting Duo (#1) and the Rouge Artiste Intense in 53.  Reviews on all of the items I received are forthcoming – anything you’d be interested in seeing first?

IMATS 2014 Recap

Events, Makeup

201411_imats1

Having never been to IMATS before, despite my makeup obsession long withstanding, I have to say this was a pretty phenomenal first experience. I got to meet a ton of Toronto-area bloggers that I read on the daily, pick up a bunch of makeup brands I don’t normally have access to, meet some YouTubers I’ve been watching for years and… surround myself with people who are just as into makeup (if not moreso) as me!

Blurry hurried selfie while heading to the subway
Blurry hurried selfie while heading to the subway

I was a bit in a rush that morning since I was heading to meet Jenn from Scarlet Beauty prior to the doors opening at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. We got there early enough, but the lines were still insane. A line to pick up your pass (aka a stamp on your wrist) and then another long line to actually get into the IMATS hall.

Make Up For Ever craziness
Make Up For Ever craziness

I’d been warned that everyone would go bat-shit insane for the MUFE and MAC counters. I wasn’t really interested in either of them, so I swatched a few items while Jenn compiled her list at MUFE. And then, while she waited in line for an HOUR to get her order fulfilled there, I ran off to check out the other booths.

Kryolan singles
Kryolan singles

I managed to pick up all the things on my “To Buy” list during that hour. They mostly included glitters from Lit Cosmetics, pigments from Naked Cosmetics, and a bunch of brushes from theReal Techniques/Farleyco booth. Lit and Naked both seem to be online only to Canada and I’ve always wanted to check them out in person first.

Main Stage area
Main Stage area

Then, while Jenn was still waiting at MUFE for her order, I got into the Real Techniques line where the Pixiwoo sisters would be meeting and greeting for the next two hours. I have to admit, I felt silly. I mean, I’m a 31 year old woman and I was predominantly surrounded by late teens/early 20-something-or-others, waiting in line to meet some YouTubers. I always feel incredibly awkward meeting “famous” people because I’m overly conscious of the fact that I am “just another blogger in a long list of people they will see and promptly forget”. HOWEVER, I’ve been watching their videos for five or six years now and I have gotten more information and techniques from them than I ever thought possible and I really wanted to get a picture with them.

Real Techniques/Farleyco booth
Real Techniques/Farleyco booth

So I lined up, snagged a few pictures while they were with other people, and then my turn came up. They were warm and friendly – asking my name and what makeup I was wearing (which I promptly blanked on because I was dealing with mild-starstruck-itis). In the end, they were lovely and they took a beautiful picture. On my way out of the photo area (I really didn’t say much to them, I didn’t want to take up too much of their time), Sam turned to me and said she didn’t catch my name. I repeated it, and I thought that was such a sweet gesture.

Pixiwoo sammich
Pixiwoo sammich

Thankfully the picture came out pretty good!

Student competition on the main stage
Student competition on the main stage

Afterwards, it was a matter of meeting up with some more bloggers, having some lunch with a few of them, and then checking out some of the panels and some more of the booths. I picked up way more brushes than I intended (Morphe, London Brush Company) and grabbed a palette of brights from Morphe.

Various life art by different brands
Various life art by different brands

There were also a lot of pieces of art walking around as well. While I love the bright colours by MUFE (on the left), I was *super* excited to see the Mia Sara get-up on the model on the right from the movie Legend. At least that’s what I think they were going for! (Man, I LOVE that movie! Good reminder to go re-watch it…)

A unicorn. With glitter. And sparkles. SO MUCH YES.
A unicorn. With glitter. And sparkles. SO MUCH YES.

The last panel of the day was something to do with MAC Cosmetics and fantasy. It started off interestingly, with the inspiration being teacups and 80s punk….

201411_imats_macfantasy1

….and then everything went disastrously downhill once the Sweet n Lo packets were brought in to be applied to the lips.

It was all fun and games until someone brought in the Sweet n Lo packets…
It was all fun and games until someone brought in the Sweet n Lo packets…

Like… what?

It’s okay nameless model, we feel your pain too.
It’s okay nameless model, we feel your pain too.

The poor model…

201411_imats2

So all in all IMATS was a ton of fun. It was crowded as hell during the morning, but a lot of people left by mid-afternoon so there was a lot more space to move around and check out booths. That being said, there was also a lot less product left at the booths by the end of the day, so if you wanted something in particular that was a highly coveted item, I hoped you picked it up in the morning!

Canadian Beauty Bloggers (CBB) – photo from Jen of A Beautiful Zen
Canadian Beauty Bloggers (CBB) – photo from Jen of A Beautiful Zen

Aside from the products, getting to meet some of the CBB crowd was fantastic! Be sure to check them out:

My bag of goodies
My bag of goodies

And despite my concerns, I actually managed to stick to my budget ($200). I wasn’t expecting it to actually happen (we all know we start to cave when we’re around shiny new products!) but I was super pleased that I actually held to it.

Monthly haul coming up on Friday which will include all my IMATs stuff as well!