So after some deliberating last week, I’ve decided it makes a lot more sense for my personal schedule AND my blogging schedule to move this segment to Thursdays. So, without further ado, welcome to Thursday Favourites!
This Thursday I’m going to be discussing one of my fave lip glosses — the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer! This is one of the best and (as the name would suggest) most universal neutral lip glosses. Not only is it SUPER shiny and soft, it looks incredibly natural. This shade, without a doubt, would look great on any and every skin tone. It has a neutral pink colour to it, but mostly comes out as glossy clear with glitter, making it a great top coat as well.
This product is so high quality too — it’s long lasting, and doesn’t bleed into the skin surrounding your lips. It feels soft and moisturizing, and is a great staple to keep in a purse to throw on whenever you need a quick touch up. It makes a great everyday shade and pairs well with just about everything, so it’s great to keep with you wherever you go.
I haven’t yet gotten the chance to try any of the other new shades, but I’m waiting on a chance to test them all out. This product absolutely stole my heart, and I’m definitely going to go out and purchase another sometime soon. In general, I feel like it’s pretty hard to go wrong with Fenty Beauty — everything by the line is just next level and exceptional. 100% would recommend if you’ve never tried it. (Really, Rihanna can do no wrong!).
If you’ve been needing a great everyday gloss, be sure to check out the product on Sephora here — and be sure to stay tuned for my next Thursday Favourites!
La Biosthétique Expert Treatment Protection Cheveux Complexe Express Care Volume and Ouai Leave-In Conditioner
Hey y’all!
Quick update — when I started this weekly segment, I simple chose Tuesday because that was the day I wrote my first review on. At the time, I scheduled my other blog posts around this — Sunday’s made the most sense for a weekly post, with a post on Thursday as well to even out the week’s schedule. Since then, however, I took a step back and limited myself to two posts a week — something that has really been working for me and I’m likely going to stick with.
So, now, I’m looking for some feedback. While it feels strange to change the day of a weekly segment I’ve had since the start of my blog, I also feel it would make a lot more sense to move this segment to Thursday and have my posts be spread more evenly throughout the week. What do you guys think? Have my reviews impacted you at all? Do you have a preferred topic — makeup, skincare or haircare? Are you still enjoying this segment, or would you like to see something new? Or, alternatively, would you rather I put all my effort towards one great post a week and abandon this segment entirely? I’d really love to hear from you guys about what’s working for you and what isn’t, and I’ll be sure to update depending on the feedback you guys give me! If you’re really loving the posts and still want one every Tuesday, let me know! Otherwise, I’ll continue the segment on Thursdays from now on (or whatever else your feedback and advice suggests is best!).
Anyways, let’s get into this weeks review. This Tuesday, I decided to discuss some of my hair favourites — the La Biosthetique Expert Treatment Protection Cheveux Complexe Express Care Volume spray and the Ouai Leave-In Conditioner!
As I’ve discussed before, I used to bleach my hair and still have problems to this day with the bleached portion being uber dry and damaged. It takes a lot of effort to care for bleached hair, and for years the products I used just weren’t cutting it. My hair was so dry and frizzy, nothing seemed to help.
With enough time (and a lot of trial and error) however, I found a combination of products that helped my hair grow in healthy and stay healthy, even with all the processing my hair had been through. Since i’ve returned to being brunette, luckily, my hair has already started to grow in more healthy naturally, but these products still do an amazing job of taking care of my bleached-out ends.
The first product, from La Biosthetique, is a leave-in treatment meant to help restructure, strengthen, and moisturize hair. I love this treatment because its so easy — you just spray it into your roots before drying your hair and massage it down to your ends and voila! Since i’ve began using this product, not only has my grown-out, bleached hair become stronger and more resilient, but my hair growing in is so much stronger and healthier than my hair has ever been before, even before I started bleaching it.
The second product, Ouai’s Leave-In Conditioner, is pretty self-explanitory from the name. However, what I love about this specific product is how light-weight it is — it doesn’t leave any residue at all, and doesn’t weigh down the ends of your hair one bit. I was nervous to try this product initially for these exact reasons; I had received this product in a FabFitFun box and had never heard of the brand before. I should have known better, because FabFitFun has honestly never let me down, and neither does this product. I spray a little in my ends before blow-drying, and it helps keep them shiny and moisturized despite how damaged they are.
That’s it for this weeks review! If either of these products sound like just what you’ve been looking for, be sure to check out La Biosthetique’s Leave-In Treatment here and Ouai’s Leave-In Conditioner here!
Thanks for reading y’all! I hope you’re enjoying these segments, and I really would appreciate any feedback you could give, big or small, in the comments below so I can tailor these posts to your best interests!
Stay tuned for this Sunday’s post, and to keep updated on what I choose for the future of this segment!
This week I’m going to share with you a product I recently bought and instantly fell in love with: The Fenty Beauty Contour Stick!
I was honestly a bit on the fence about this product when I bought it — not only had I not contoured in years, I had never used cream contour. I was rather daunted by it, and super uninformed. I thought that the matte look of this product wasn’t what I was looking for, as I’m not a huge fan of matte skin products. (Or matte anything, really. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how down I am for glowy, dewey looks).
However, this product turned out to be just what I was looking for! It contours beautifully — it has a great cool shade that mimics shadows naturally and doesn’t come off looking too orange or grey. I do find it a bit challenging to blend into my foundation with a blender, but so long as i touch up my foundation on top there’s no issues whatsoever.
If you feel daunted by how dark the shade is, don’t be! I was too at first, as I am incredibly pale. However, this product still looks natural on me and would certainly look fantastic on darker skin tones as well.
So for the first time in years, I’m finally able to create a sharp, contoured look for myself; my features look SO sharp and I get to avoid any fake-contour lines and blending errors. If you’re looking to try a creme stick to sculpt out your features, look no further!
If this sounds like the product for you, be sure to check it out at Sephora here!
Hey guys! Hope you’re all gearing up to have a great week!
First of all, I know this post is super late. As I discussed last week, I’ve been feeling crazy overwhelmed lately and haven’t been able to keep up with blogging regularly. But honestly, better late than never!
For those of you lucky enough to live in Vancouver, you may have already heard of, or been to, the annual Aritzia Warehouse Sale. Every year around labour day, Ariztia hosts a multi-week sale featuring 50-90% off an entire warehouse worth of their products, and it’s as crazy as it sounds. People have been known to line up for hours to get in, or even camp outside the venue in the days leading up. It’s THAT good.
Now, unfortunately, I don’t really have the time to sit around in line all day, so my best friend Nylah and I opted to check it out on the last day. Even then, it was still crazy and overwhelming, with thousands of discounted options for offer.
When you arrive at the sale, you have to be ready for the hunt. Chances are, it’ll be near impossible to find anything in your size, or cute things in your size, or anything at all amidst the sea of people without some serious dedication. After a couple of hours, I collected a couple of purchases I was quite happy with. The biggest success, however, is the savings: I managed to buy $400 of clothing for just $170 (plus a couple accessories which lack the original price tags).
So, without further ado, I figured I’d share my findings with you, modelled with a few accessories! (Not too many though, so you can still get an idea of what each garment looks like). I hope you enjoy, and when next year’s sale rolls around, you’re able to check it out for yourself!
**LIL DISCLAIMER** — I’m hoping to get a better camera/photoset up (/photographer?) soon, so I apologize for the quality of these photos (read: mirror selfies in my empty bedroom) — I hope you still get the idea!
Item #1: White Pantsuit by Little Moon
Original Price: $178.00
Warehouse Sale Price: $60.00
Personally, I’m crazy about the bodysuit/pantsuit trend — it looks so classy and professional! This item, more so than any of the others I bought, is clearly a summer piece — but at this discount, it’s worth stashing it away in my closet for a year! I love this because it COULD be worn to a fancier event — but can also make a great everyday outfit as well.
Item #2: Red Bodysuit by Wilfred
Original Price: $50.00
Warehouse Sale Price: $20.00
Okay. I am LIVING for this bodysuit. Hands down, this was my favourite purchase this year. I was a little worried it would be too small, but the fabric is so stretchy it fits perfectly. The best part about this is it has a somewhat classic look to it — I’m not too worried about it looking dated by next summer. Plus, it’s not so strongly tied to summer that I won’t be able to get some use out of it before then!
Item #3: Yellow Dress by Wilfred
Original Price: $138.00
Warehouse Sale Price: $60.00
I’m pretty excited for this dress because as a blonde, I shied away from yellow for so long. It really didn’t suit me all too well, and for years I didn’t own a single yellow item of clothing. But as a brunette, I find yellow suits me much better. I love this dress, both because it’s ADORABLE, something totally new for me, but the mustard shade of this yellow means I may be able to pull off this dress in the fall! It’s all a win-win-win, really.
Item #4: Blue Skirt by Babaton
Original Price: $98.00
Warehouse Sale Price: $30.00
Okay, I know I already apologized for my poor-quality photos, but I really do apologize for this one. I really loved this skirt, so I went ahead and bought it even though it was a little large. It’s super cute, so I’m happy I did, but I haven’t gotten the chance to tailor it yet. No worries, though — I’m sure it’ll be ready in time for spring! Plus, tailoring a cheap skirt is SO much better than buying the same thing full price in a few months.
Item #5: White Shirt by Babaton
Original Price: $35.00
Warehouse Sale Price: $15.00
Lately, I’ve been noticing how my closet is missing a lot of basics. I feel like I’m always losing a battle between having basics and statement pieces — when I have all sorts of one, I have none of the other. This shirt is great because it’s simple, but still super cute! Plus, it fits so perfectly — if Babaton still carries these, I’d definitely be down to buy more. (I really do have a thing for shirts that are meant to be tied, though, so maybe it’s just my bias).
Items #6 & 7: Accessories
And last but not least — accessories! By the last day of the Aritzia Warehouse Sale, the accessories are super picked over — while they ensure that the sale is restocked daily, some items sell out FAST. A lot of people go on the first day and load up on cute accessories (especially the blanket scarves), so by the last day the pickings are awfully slim (compared to, say, the Super Puff jackets, which there was still plenty of. To be fair, it is a little depressing to spend the last days of summer investing in a winter coat).
All that being said, I still found this cap and belt! I love plain caps, especially for when I’m having a bad hair day (we’ve all been there, right?) but I don’t really have a whole lot of them — many of mine are colourful, or come embellished with logos and the like. Needless to say, I’m super glad I found this one!
As for the belt — I’ve recently become obsessed with how quickly you can turn an outfit from average to adorable simply by adding a belt, so I leapt at the chance to add one to my collection! (You really can’t say no when the prices are THAT good).
And that’s my little haul! Overall, I saved about $230 overall at this sale, and I got some super cute stuff. If you ever get the chance to attend this sale, I couldn’t recommend it more! Yes, it’s crazy, and even a little overwhelming — but it’s also pretty much an experience unlike any other and you’re bound to find some amazing steals if you’re willing to dig through the rest.
I really hope you guys enjoyed this post, especially considering how long it took me to prepare it for y’all! In better news, I’m starting to get my life a little more on track and have plenty of exciting posts planned for the next few weeks, so stay tuned!
Okay so a little disclaimer, this was the post I had intended to make last week. I had it completely written out and everything, but hadn’t scheduled it, and was too busy at work to post it. I know it’s probably a little weird to post this in this context since obviously it’s no longer my birthday, but I still wanted to share! So without further ado, enjoy!
For this week I wanted to choose a very special product, because for me it’s a very special Tuesday — today is my 23rd birthday! I really wanted to share with you guys my all time favourite product, so I really put a lot of thought into what I would share with you guys this week. After a while, I started to realize that it was waaaaay too hard to find the perfect product, especially since I’m committed to only sharing the best with you guys, so really all of these products are special.
Around the time that I was writing this post, I shared a poll on my twitter account asking my followers which makeup product they could absolutely not live without. For me, it was easy — while I do LOVE highlighter with all my heart, I cannot go out feeling as I’m looking my best without lashes. I’ve tried many mascaras in my lifetime, but none of them blew me away to the extent that I felt that I could go without lashes. For me, falsies are the most important step to creating a polished, finished makeup look.
So this week, I’ll be sharing one of my all-time fave lash brands with you — Lilly Lashes! As you guys may remember from my last Tuesday Favourite lash post, I generally like a more natural look to my falsies. While the Sephora lashes look 100% natural, these lashes certainly look a lot more extreme — which can be exactly what you need for certain makeup looks.
I love pairing these especially with winged eyeliner, as it not only keeps the lashes from looking too extreme, but the lashes themselves are long enough you can still see them perfectly from a distance, even with heavy liner. They make a great bold look, and pair especially well with heavier makeup looks. (Edit: I ended up wearing these on my birthday and got endless comments from my coworkers about how fabulous they looked, so they really are fantastic!).
So, if the natural look isn’t really your thing, or you’re looking to try something a little more bold, give these lashes a shot! Not only are they beautiful, but they last forever so long as you care for them properly.
If you want to check this product out, you can find it on Sephora here!
Sincerely, Meredith 