July 2012 Favourites

Is it time for a favourites post already?! Summer is flying by which is alright with me since Fall is my absolute favourite season. Just a few products made it into my favourites this month, but all are completely fantastic.

Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk & Hibiscus Creamy Body Lotion - And so continues my obsession with coconut. The smell of this is fantastic and it absorbs very well. It is certainly not a thick cream, which has been perfect for this incredibly hot summer!

Barry M Nail Polish in Berry I/C- I received this in my swap from Laura-Jayn and just adore this colour. I know pastels are usually associated with Spring, but I love them all year round! The formula of this polish is fantastic, and it is completely opaque in two coats.

Korres Lip Butter Glaze in Jasmine - I adore the lip butters from Korres so when I saw they came in a lip gloss I was all for it. I found this in Winners and snatched them up immediately. It was a pack of three of these for only $6.99.

Organix Revitalizing Pomegranate Green Tea Anti Frizz Serum - I have become a little engrossed with the Organix line. Their conditioners, body moisturizers, and styling products are fantastic! This is a great serum that calms my horribly frizzy hair. Just beware: too much and your hair goes from gorgeous to greasy! One pump or less is more then enough!!

Dove Go Sleeveless Deodorant - I picked this up for the sole reason it was on sale. I have never had a loyalty to deodorants but I think I may now. The smell of this is fantastic. I wore it on one of the days in July where the temperature hit 40 degrees Celsius and all I could smell was the amazing scent. I actually have seen a difference in the condition of my under arms as well.

What products are you loving right now?

xo Kathryn

Swap with The Lovely Laura Jayn

Again, I am always blown away by the amazing supportive people I meet through this blog. It is nice to be surronded by people that not only share your interests but also your morals. I have been following Laura-Jayn's blog for quite sometime, and I adore it. So when she suggested a swap, I jumped at the opportunity. We set a dollar amount and agreed to send brands that you couldn't get in the receivers country. When her package came I was so excited. She sent me sooo many products I was overwhelmed! They were so well picked too, she actually considered my skin type, colours and preference. If you aren't following Laura-Jayn yet, you definitely should check out her blog here! Here is a look at the things Laura-Jayn sent me! (Pictures are broken down by brand.. there was just so many things!)




She wrapped everything so well! Nothing broke on its trip all the way from England!

4 Face Masks, the little red tin, and pink lip balm

MUA: Heaven and Earth Palette, Lipstick in Shades #4, 12 and 16, Lip Gloss in #5 and Glamour Days Palette



2True: Colour Drench Lipgloss in #4, 3 in 1 Concealer #1, and Smooth Matte Pressed Powder in #1



Sleek: Oh So Special Palette and Blush in Life's a Peach

Collection 2000: Big Fake Mascara in Brown Black, Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair, Cream Puff Lip Cream in Cotton Candy and Blush in Bashfull



Barry M: Dusky Mauve, Blue Moon, Strawberry I/C, Berry I/C, Peach Malba, and Magnetic Burgundy



I love everything she sent me! The stand outs? The powder, concealers and palettes! She did such an amazing job of finding products I would like (you will definitely see some of these in my July favourites!). So excited to dive further into these products!

Hope you enjoyed this post!

xo Kathryn 

How Much Does Your Face Cost?

I saw a fantastic tag on a few blogs the other day that I thought would be fun to do! I am a little slow to pick up this tag, I know it started awhile ago, but oh well! Instead of the $20 makeup challenge that has been going around, which focuses on limiting the cost of your makeup, this tag focuses on costing out how much your face really costs. This is my standard everyday makeup. You will notice there is no shadow.. on a typical day I do not wear eye shadow just liner. I thought this was fun and if you want, I tag you to do it as well!

Eco Tools Bronzer Brush: $11.00

Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream: $9.00

Benefit Hoola Lip Gloss: $18.00

Marcelle Xtreme Mascara: $12.00

NYX Eyebrow Push-Up Liner: $7.00

CoverGirl Lash Blast Length: $8.00

Korres Pomegranate Mattifying Treatment: $10.00

MAC Nicki Minaj Lipstick: $19.00

Physicians Formula Liquid Liner: $11.00

Urban Decay 24/7 Pencil in Perversion: $17.00

NYC Smooth Size Bronzer in Sunny: $3.00

Tarte Amazion Clay Blush in Blissful: $25.00

MAC Blot Powder: $25.00

Total Makeup Cost: $175.00

This pretty face? It ain't cheap! Granted a lot of these products last forever, and if I broke it down to price per use I'm sure the price tag would be much more reasonable (I hope at least!).

I hope you enjoyed this post!

xo Kathryn

June 2012 Raves

I apologize for being slightly MIA recently. My life has been a little crazy! In the last two weeks I have started a new job and moved to a new house! Needless to say I have been a little overwhelmed but I am really happy with everything and am looking forward to writing some great posts! Here is a quick monthly rave on some products that I have been absolutely loving in the month of June. I have actually been lucky this month, I couldn't think of one product I didn't like, so this will just be a few products I love. 

The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost - I recently ran out of Tea Tree Serum from the Body Shop, and since they had a buy 2 get 2 free deal, I treated myself to a few more products. I rediscovered my love for this serum; fantastic consistency and it makes my skin glow in the morning. If you haven't tried this product, I would totally recommend it!

Redken Hair Cleansing Cream - Every Sunday I like to give my hair a deep cleanse and use a deep conditioning mask to prep my hair for the week. I haven't found a shampoo

that really makes my hair feel free of product build-up till I tried this. The smell is amazing and after I leave it on for a few minutes my hair and scalp feel incredibly clean.. but not dried out!

Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine - I own a few of these and love them all, but I find I reach for this one the most. It gives a sheer wash of light pink colour and the consistency is fantastic. 10 out of 10 for sure.

Eco Tools Bronzer Brush - I purchased this brush a few months ago, and am in love with it! It is the softest brush I have ever owned.  It is specified for applying bronzer, but it is really my multi-purpose brush! I use it for powder, bronzer, and blush and it works great for all of them. And at only $10? You can't go wrong!

The Body Shop Lip and Cheek Duo in Pinch Me Pink - This was another product in the buy 2 get 2 free shopping trip. This is from their new makeup line that has Lily Cole as the spokesperson. I loved the colour of this and it is a great cream blush. Not thrilled with it on the lips (it barely shows on my lips) but on the cheeks it is beautiful and natural! It is normally $10 but I received it for free :)

I would love to hear what products you are loving right now :)

xo Kathryn

June Julep Box - Classic with a Twist

Since I skipped my Julep Maven box in May, I thought I would treat myself to a box in June. What a good month to choose because the colours were beautiful! I choose Classic with a Twist and could not be happier with my choices. I had every intention to skip July.. but seriously how could I say no to the colour selection for next month!? I caved and can't wait for my July box to arrive. But before I get too ahead of myself.. let's go through June's box!

Lauren is the fuchsia pink which is a fantastic jelly texture. I have already worn it and with two coats it is a beautiful bright opaque colour. Though I did find it to peel quickly. Claire is a great creamy but bright blue. I haven't worn this fully on my nails but I did do polka dots on top of Lauren and it showed up great! I also received two additional nail polish brushes in my box. There was a note saying this was for the defective brushes some subscribers received last month. I didn't order a box last month so I didn't really need these brushes, but they are certainly great to have!

The additional products that Julep always sends in its boxes this month was the Julep Daylight Defence for Hands and Face and the Daylight Defence Lip Balm in Vanilla Mint. These were great additional products and perfect for summer. With the addition of products like this, I can justify the $20 price tag. The lip chap is fantastic: a fairly standard consistency but I love the flavour of mint and vanilla together. Plus, the addition of SPF is great. So often people forget that our lips need SPF too! The consistency of the Daylight Defence cream is great. It is not greasy or heavy and is great for all over the body. I have used it a few times on my face and it has not broken me out. Chelsea at Chelsea Morgan Beauty raves about this and I would have to agree with her review!

Please note that there were two pixie sticks in this box... though they barely saw daylight before I devoured them. What a nice little touch.. so nostalgic for me since I definitely grew up in the era of the pixie sticks!

I love my box this month and shipping was super fast to Ontario (it was me that took so long getting up this post)! Overall, Julep just makes it harder and harder to skip a month!!

Hope you enjoyed this post!

xo Kathryn

Product Review: Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream

After my colour match disappointment with Marcelle BB Cream I was on the hunt for a BB cream that would cater to my off-white skin colour. I thought maybe an Asian BB cream would be more my style, but honestly, I live in a smaller city and there is no where for me to get one. And with skin products I really want to try it before ordering it, which made me shy away from on-line ordering. While I was in Wal-Mart the other day I noticed that Maybelline had launched their own version of the BB Cream. I really like the Maybelline brand, and with a five colour selection I thought I might have better luck with this line.

Display at Wal-Mart (this is it even after I cleaned it up a bit for the photo...super messy!)

The Promise: This BB cream promises to be an 8-in-1 product (as can be seen on the front and back of the product). After a few days of wear this is how I feel towards these eight promises:

1. Has SPF 30 - The level of SPF in this product is great, and ensures that I don't need an additional layer of sunscreen under it on a day when I'm just going to the office. The product has no smell other then a faint sunscreen smell (but it is very faint).
2. Helps blur the look of imperfections - I like the wording of this one. Definitely a true marketers statement. I would say this product definitely leans more to a tinted moisturizer then a BB cream coverage or foundation coverage. It will even your skin tone but certainly will not hide anything.
3. Creates a natural glow - This effect is very minimal. I could see it brighten my complexion but only slightly.
4. Skin looks smoother - This statement I would agree with. It does a good job of evening skin tone as stated above, as well as makes your skin feel incredibly smooth once dry. Don't toss that concealer just yet! If you have things to cover (blemishes, hyper-pigmentation etc.) this product will not cover that.
5. Compliments skin tone - With a five shade colour range I am fairly confident that most people could find a colour that would blend it. The lightest shade matched me perfectly. I like that they have mini testers out (which you can see in the display picture), but be aware that the testers have shade names while the actual products themselves do not (how strange?).
6. Hydrates all day - It is extremely hydrating, but somehow walks that line of hydrating my skin without making it oily or dewy. The finish is initially a little scary, but once dried it is beautiful!
7. Feels fresh - this product is super light weight. Once on, it feels like nothing but moisturized skin. No cakey-clearly-wearing-foundation face here. It is perfect for the summer!
8. Oil free - This is perfect for us oily to combination skin girls! I set everything with powder (just a habit of a chronic oily skin girl) but had no problems with my face getting more greasy or getting greasy earlier then it usually does. If anything, this product kept my face matte longer then it usually would be on its own.

Any Flaws?: I am not sure I would recommend this product for dry skin girls. I have quite oily skin but had a dry spot from over medicating a blemish, and the BB cream stuck to the dry patch and made it flake. On the rest of my face it applied evenly and smoothly but I definitely had troubles with that one patch. Additionally, if you are going somewhere where you know your photo is going to be taken, I would not recommend this product due to the high amount of SPF. I'm not sure why but I wish they had shade names on the product..it bugs me for some reason. That is strictly a personal opinion though.

Titanium Dioxide Cream?: I will touch on this point lightly, since I am no scientist (help me out here Jayne?), but it is hard to ignore the "Titanium Dioxide Cream" statement printed right on the front of the product. I mean, how unappealing does that sound? I read a few articles on the matter, (which is the sunscreen ingredient in this product) and all seemed to state the same thing: as an ingredient, it is probably not good for you but there is nothing conclusive saying it will hurt you. We all know most products are better when they are as natural as possible, so it is up to you whether this statement turns you off of this product or not.


Would I Repurchase?: Definitely!! The colour match, the consistency, and the finish are all exactly what I was looking for. Would I love to have a product like this that didn't have an extra long ingredient list with words I can't pronounce? Of course! But despite all that I do love this product and would highly recommend it.

I hope this review was helpful!

xo Kathryn