Swatch Sunday: Smashbox Santigold

Smashbox Santigold

Smashbox Santigold
Smashbox Santigold

I got the Smashbox Santigold in a blogger swap via Julie of Swatch & Review. At first I was like “looks okay, but whatever, I have those shades”. Wrong. So wrong. The green and the navy are INCREDIBLE, and the plummy shade on the right that has gold sparkles? They actually adhere to the lid. What is this sorcery?!?

Seriously though, look at this photo from my Instagram from ages ago (disregard my phone’s quality as best you can, because you can still see how pigmented the shadows are!):

 

Smashbox Santigold
Smashbox Santigold

Smashbox Santigold Swatches

Smashbox Santigold - green
Smashbox Santigold – green
Smashbox Santigold - navy
Smashbox Santigold – navy
Smashbox Santigold - plum with gold flecks
Smashbox Santigold – plum with gold flecks
Smashbox Santigold - cream
Smashbox Santigold – cream
Smashbox Santigold - emerald
Smashbox Santigold – emerald

Skincare Saturday: Bioderma Hydrabio Serum

Bioderma Hydrabio Serum

Although I’ve been a big fan of Bioderma‘s micelle solution for quite a long time, it’s only recently that I’ve started to delve into more of their products. I was first introduced to the Hydrabio line by Bioderma via their micelle solution from the same line and so far this Hydrabio Serum is a frontrunner in that lineup for me!

This isn’t a picture heavy post because it really is just a singular product, but man, is it ever a good one. The Hydrabio Serum is designed to retrain the skin to moisturize itself. It has a frothy gel-like consistency that smells AMAZING to me – in fact, the whole Hydrabio line, it has a fresh, aquatic scent that is especially pleasing to me. (Please note the product does indicate that it contains allergen-free fragrance.)

Bioderma Hydrabio Serum with handy pump top!
Bioderma Hydrabio Serum with handy pump top!

“Developed in the BIODERMA Research laboratories, the Aquagenium  biological patent found in Hydrabio retrains the skin to activate its natural moisturising capacities by stimulating the production of aquaporins, water channels in the skin, and retain the water it needs to be balanced.”

Bioderma suggests you can use this in conjunction with your moisturizer, but I’ve found that it’s not really necessary – the Hydrabio Serum is more than enough to plump up my skin and renew moisture to it. I even love the pump bottle – one pump delivers enough product to cover my entire face.

If you’ve got dry skin and need to bump up your moisture level, I’d definitely give the Bioderma Hydrabio Serum a shot – it’s worked out so well for me!

The product featured in this review was sent to me for consideration.

Fitness Friday: 2016 Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K

2016 Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K

In what I’m hoping is going to become a yearly tradition for me, I ran the Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K for the second time this year!

2016 Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K
2016 Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K

The start/finish zone is by Steamwhistle Brewery in downtown Toronto and last year I clocked my personal best of 26:10 (tied personal best actually… I got the exact same race time in the 2014 Rat Race), so I was hoping for some magic this year and to finally crack into 25 minutes.

2016 Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K
2016 Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K – coming up to the end

But, as I’ve been non-stop lamenting through 2015, I’ve been in not so great shape and I (frustratingly) keep packing on the pounds. I look at last year’s racing post and I get a little bit jealous of the body I’ve got in those shots… and yet the weight difference is only 5-7 pounds!

2016 Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K
2016 Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K

All moaning aside, I love this race. It’s green, it’s St. Patrick’s Day themed and it’s supported by a brewery. The course is relatively decent (except for that ASSHOLE of a hill near the end as we cross back over the bridge towards the end) and it takes place during a month where the temperatures are usually just above freezing which is my preferred running temperature. (Over 15C? Hate it.)

2016 Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K - finally the finish line!
2016 Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K – finally the finish line!

It’s a loopback course, so you run out 2.5k, switchback and carry on back to the start/finish line. It’s a relatively small race so you don’t have to worry about mass crowds which I love. I felt pretty decent throughout the bulk of the race, BUT I was able to sprint towards the finish line which definitely means I had more gas in the tank that I could’ve used throughout the whole race.

2016 Achilles St. Patrick's Day 5K - course map
2016 Achilles St. Patrick’s Day 5K – course map

I clocked in at 26:51 – thankfully still in the 26 minute mark, but perilously close to 27 minutes which is disappointing. It’s “only” a 41 second difference from last year’s race, but seconds are HUGE in racing so this is quite a bad drop in terms of racing. In general terms, I dropped from the top 25%, down to the top 32%.

Still, I love the atmosphere and they serve you a beer and insanely delicious spicy chili afterwards. I’m happy to get back into racing this year with this race, but I’ve got a lot of work to do to get back in line with where I used to be!

Race Results

  • Finish Time: 26:51
  • Pace: 5:22 per kilometer
  • Overall placement: 415/1273
  • Age group placement (Female 30-39 years): 54/245
  • Gender placement (F): 139/706

By the way, if you’re ever interested in the other races I’ve run, you can always visit my Race Results page for a breakdown by year and by race. Enjoy!

QUO Prismatic Collection Spring 2016 (Review, Swatches & Look)

QUO Prismatic Collection Spring 2016

Spring collections are everywhere at this point, so what’s going to make them stand out one from the other? I mean… brights, pastels, florals… spring collections pretty much run all the same don’t they?

EXCEPT THE PACKAGING ON THIS QUO COLLECTION. Holy smokes! QUO is a brand I haven’t had a lot of exposure with, but they are actually killing me with this mottled graffiti-esque holographic packaging. It is GORGEOUS! (Caps for impact guys… it’s happening!)

So here’s a few items from the QUO Prismatic Collection that launched this month at Shoppers Drug Mart:

QUO by Orly - Always Chic
QUO by Orly – Always Chic

Let’s start out with the less obvious item for me on this blog – nail polish! The QUO by Orly nail polish in Always Chic ($10 CAD) took me by surprise. I really do not care about nail polish – it just doesn’t excite me, you know? And yet this shade is a very pale pink-lilac with a teal duochrome.  It’s so, sooo freaking gorgeous.

QUO by Orly - Always Chic
QUO by Orly – Always Chic

You can see a hint of the duochrome here, but I really haven’t a clue how to capture that on camera. Regardless, if you’re in a Shoppers Drug Mart, check this one out so you can see it for yourself!

QUO Prismatic Brow Kit
QUO Prismatic Brow Kit

I’ll mention the Prismatic Brow Kit ($12 CAD) briefly, but I won’t be reviewing it because I didn’t try it out. It comes with two brow powders (too dark and warm for me, hence my lack of usage) as well as a very soft eyebrow gel and a mini brushes for application. The packaging is small, compact and the mirror is extremely appreciated in a product such as this.

QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk
QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk

I’m quite a fan of these all-in-one face palettes by QUO since they’re sleek, compact (zero extra space for a useless brush – YAY!) and the mirror is ENORMOUS. The Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk ($18 CAD) is the largest sized palette in this collection and the one I was the most excited to use.

QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk
QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk

This is the lighter of two palettes (the other one is moderately darker, but not by much) and each colour packs a significant amount of pigment. Each shade does contain a certain amount of shimmer though – there’s no mattes to be seen here!

QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk - swatches
QUO Prismatic Face Palette in Moonwalk – swatches

The blush and highlight shades have the most amount of shimmer (although I really only saw tiiiiny glitter particles in the blush), whereas the bronzer on the right side is much more subtle and thankfully pale enough for me to use right now on my winter skin.

QUO Prismatic Collection Look

In the shot above, I’m wearing all of the items in the face palette and the shot was taken in natural light. You can see the highlighter is *definitely* doing its job on the tops of my cheek bones and yet despite the sheen on all of the products, I don’t feel like it’s total overkill. I love how the blush, bronzer and highlighter all worked together to create a gorgeous enhancement to my face.

QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life
QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life

Next up… eyeshadows. There are three QUO Prismatic Eye Palettes in this collection, but I only have the one in Colourful Life ($18 CAD).

QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life
QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life

I’ll start out by pointing out the obvious – this is not a standalone palette that you could use daily unless you like really, really subtle eyeshadow shades. The darkest colour in the palette is the purple in the top row and that’s really not enough in a palette of 10 shades. Additionally, unlike the face palette, these are all mattes.

QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life - swatches
QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life – swatches

Swatched out, everything is decently pigmented for a pastel collection (which is unusual because pastels are usually quite patchy), so this is a good addition to your collection if you’re looking for a bunch of soft colours to add to your arsenal. However, if you’re looking for a standalone palette to use on the daily, you’re going to struggle with only one deeper shade.

QUO Prismatic Collection Look
QUO Prismatic Collection Look

In the look I created from this palette, I’m wearing one of the softer pinks through my upper crease, the light purple on the lid, the dark purple in the outer corner and the white shade on my brow bone. I also have the pale green on my inner corner, but it’s not visible at all (not in person and not on camera). This is the absolute DARKEST look this palette can go, so keep that in mind! I also had to use a white base to make sure the colours popped as well. I’m not in love with the eyeshadow palette, but I do love how the look came out anyway.

QUO Prismatic Collection Look
QUO Prismatic Collection Look – studio lights

Here’s a side face shot so you can see the eye makeup from a different angle as well as the Face compact products (took these with a ring light). I love how subtle the bronzer is on my skin (temple, backs of my cheekbones and along my jaw line), as well as how the blush and highlighter work together.

QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life
QUO Prismatic Eye Palette in Colourful Life

The quality on the shot above is abysmal, but here’s a closer look at the eyeshadows. While the purple worked well together with a white base, you can barely tell I put that pale green on the inner corner.

Final Thoughts

The Colourful Life eye palette is a clear miss for me – there just isn’t enough mid-tone and dark shades in it to get enough decent looks. That being said, the quality of these shadows are good so I’d encourage you to check out the other two palettes in the Prismatic Collection since they look like they’ve got more shade variety.

My absolute favourite product that I tried was the Prismatic Face palette in Moonlight. It’s AMAZING and I’d jump on that sucker immediately if the shades are appealing to you. I love, love, LOVE each product in that compact as well as the packaging. Solid, solid winner there. The nail polish was equally amazing in terms of colour (although I did find I needed three costs for opaque coverage).

The QUO Prismatic Collection for Spring 2016 is available exclusively at Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada (and it’s limited edition, so get it while you can!).

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.