This past weekend one of my favourite summer events kicked off their two-week run here in Winnipeg.
I remember as a kid driving to the Red River Ex fair grounds (located at Red River Exhibition Park, just past the perimeter west of the city) at night to see all the lights, and then as I got older, I would go check out the carnival with friends and do the rides and play the games.
The Red River Ex has been around for years and it’s one of those fairs that seem to be held in every major city in Canada (obviously different names, but the rides are similar). This year’s event, which takes place June 17 to 26, 2016, has all the classic rides (ferris wheel, Niagara Falls, Polar Express, Mega Drop, etc.), as well as tons of entertainment, food, games, and animals!
As much as I love screaming my heart out or eating mini donuts, my favourite thing at The Ex definitely has to be the petting zoo. As for rides, it wouldn’t be a trip unless we did the ferris wheel.
Since it was such a hot day out this past Saturday, I chose to wear this one-piece from Topshop that I picked up last week in Vancouver, along with Forever 21 high-waisted shorts, a plaid top from Simons tied around my waist (it was chillier in the morning), and sequin Keds by Kate Spade. Shades are from Nordstrom (super inexpensive too! Like $14).
If you are from Winnipeg or the surrounding area, I am giving away two admission passes to the Red River Ex. I will be drawing early this week, so make sure you enter soon! All you have to do is tell me on Twitter (@shaynawiwierski) or Instagram your favourite fair food! Good luck and I’ll meet you at the ferris wheel ;).
Are you heading to the Red River Ex this year?
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This past Wednesday was my favourite event of the year.
For the past three years I’ve been fortunate to get invited to London Drugs’ fall beauty preview in Vancouver. The company graciously flies me out there to attend (Manitoba has one London Drugs location), and if you’ve read my posts from the past two years (or follow me on Snapchat – apopofcolour) you’ll know that you get a large amount of stuff. Like a ridiculously large amount.
This year’s event was held at the same location as last years, 130 West. The space was host to 16 vendors, some veterans and others that were new, as well as beauty brands that will be making their debut soon in London Drugs locations (LD is available on Canada’s west coast, from Manitoba to B.C.).
I knew what to expect based on previous years (aka bring a large suitcase) and I was pleasantly surprised to see some of my favourite brands there, as well as a few I’ve never heard of. First up was ELF, which I was so excited to see as I’ve been an ELF fan since I was in my early 20s (as I told the vendors, every time I would go to Target in the US I would stock up on their brushes). They were showcasing some current products, as well as some newer ones, including an eyeshadow palette, primer, cream contour kit, and some of their holiday sets.
Another affordable line that was there (and will be making their way to London Drugs locations in the fall) is British brand Makeup Revolution London. First thing I saw were their popular highlights before being handed a large stack of palettes and products. Their collection consists of eyeshadow palettes (like some dupes for the UD Naked palettes), baked blush palettes, contour kits, and their amazing highlighters. Best part of it all was that I was told everything is super affordable. Like under C$20 affordable. I was shocked to hear that as everything looked so expensive. I was told that they are available in the US and will be rolling out into Canada later this year (first stop, London Drugs!). I think out of everything that was there, I’m the most excited to play around with these products as everything looks very high-end and the range of products they had was amazing.
Also coming to Canada later this year is Kiss’ line of colour cosmetics. I absolutely love their fake lashes, as well as their press-on nails, so I was super excited to see the huge range of makeup they had to test out and swatch. They had contour kits (which look exactly like the Smashbox ones), as well as super smooth and pigmented eyeshadows and matte lipsticks in all colours of the rainbow and then some (aka navy and black).
I always look forward to visiting the NYX booth, as they always have amazing products (and always fun to swatch!). Although NYX is now available at Shoppers Drug Mart, I do find that London Drugs has a bigger selection of products (they have a huge stand in stores). NYX was showing off their glitters, ombre blushes and lipsticks, as well as their matte liquid lipsticks. Best of all, we got to walk away with their matte liquid lipstick in the colour Vancouver, a deep berry, which is the first shade named after a Canadian city.
Other vendors included Essie (who were promoting their new at-home no-light-needed gel manicures) and Sally Hansen (their new Color Therapy line), Strivectin, Coty Fragrances (Calvin Klein’s new Euphoria perfume), Conair, Lise Watier, Revlon (just wait til you see their new palettes coming for fall), Annabelle Cosmetics (who are releasing seven new mascaras shortly), OGX, Youngblood, Schwarzkopf (also coming soon to London Drugs), and NeoStrata (who also hooked it up big time).
There were some noticeably missing brands who were there the past two years I’ve gone (St. Tropez and Silk’n being two of them), but overall, with the amount of things you get and the fact that you get to receive facetime with the brand reps, the experience is definitely priceless.
As always, I had such an amazing time at this years’ event and if you live in Canada’s west coast, make sure you visit a London Drugs location this fall to pick up and experience some amazing new products. For those of you on the east coast, you can order online thorough their official site, londondrugs.com.
What makeup product are you excited for this fall?
Please note, I travelled to this event courtesy of London Drugs. All opinions are my own.
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Cheeks fit for a supermodel? Yes, please!
Just like how other drugstore brands are coming out with their own versions of contour kits (ahem, Maybelline and L’Oreal Paris…), Rimmel London has recently released one of their own, this time with a well-known supermodel to back it up.
The Kate Sculpting Palette is part of the Kate Moss line, of which there are already lipsticks, mascara, nail polish, and more. Available in three shades (Golden Sands, Coral Glow, and Golden Bronzer), this is the brand’s first sculpting and highlighting kit, designed by Kate Moss herself.
Each kit comes with a blush, bronzer and highlight to create the perfect cheeks. As I previously commented about the Maybelline one, I wouldn’t call this a true contour kit, as there is no undereye banana powder to set your foundation and add light without shimmer. With that being said, for under C$10, you can’t go wrong with this (the L’Oreal one has a banana power – in fact it’s just a bronzer and banana powder – no blush or highlight for close to C$20).
The only thing to be aware of with this is that the bronzer is quite light (or at least the one in Coral Glow is – that’s the one I have). The blush is very pretty and the highlight is good (not the best I have, but it does it’s job). If you are looking for a daytime contour palette (or even one for travel since it’s quite small), this is great.
I’ve always been a fan of Rimmel London products, and for under C$10 you can’t go wrong with this. This definitely isn’t the palette for heavy-duty contouring or anything, but if you’re new to the game or need something small for travel, I would pick this up.
Have you tried the Rimmel London Kate Sculpting Palette?
Please note, I was sent this product from PR. All opinions are my own.
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