Holiday tips: Candy cane nails

Title For all you nail polish fanatics out there, I’m sure you have the same problem as me.  Because I am obsessed with painting my nails, the poor things have really taken a beating.  Gone are my gorgeous, healthy tips, and instead I have brittle, thin, peeling nails.  Major sad face.

To alleviate this problem, I decided to do a French gel manicure to create a harder base and let my nails grow out.  I used the Sensationail Gel Manicure kit with the Kiss Color Gel in the colour French (you can use any gel polish, just make sure it has to be cured with an LED lamp).  As long as you use an acetone-free polish remover (mine is from Shoppers Drug Mart) you can use any nail polish over top and it won’t wreck your gel manicure.  If you decide to do this technique, make sure you don’t do the French tips too thick because then you will be able to physically see them underneath the polish.

White gel polish Since I was feeling festive, I decided to do a glitter polish over top.  But one glitter obviously wasn’t enough, so I ended up layering Deborah Lippmann’s Happy Birthday over Yves Rocher’s Eclat glitter nail polish.  The effect it gave me is just so festive and shiny that it’s the perfect combo for the holidays.

Nails Colours

Let me know if you try this one out!

Happy holidays!

Also, don’t forget to enter my P&G 12 Days of Beauty giveaway!  Ends tonight at midnight!

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Runway kisses: Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show-inspired hair & makeup

VS title

Well my friends, tomorrow is one of my favourite days of the year, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!  This annual event is always a staple during my holiday-season television viewing and honestly, who doesn’t enjoy watching this?  Beautiful women in fabulous hair and makeup, wearing the most gorgeous lingerie.  Plus, let’s not forget all the glitz and glam that comes with the show!

VS bag

Although I’m not tall enough (or thin enough) to be a VS Angel, I think everyone likes to pretend to be one once the show airs.  In honour of the big event tomorrow, I came up with a look to recreate the hair and makeup from the show.  I have done similar looks in the past, but the one thing I noticed when doing some research for this post is that the makeup is very subtle.  You would think it would be heavy, but I really think VS just wants the Angel’s natural beauty to shine through.  The colours are very bronzy and gold and used to just bring out the features that the models already have.

For this tutorial, I used Smashbox’s Full Exposure palette as it has tons of glittery neutral-toned shadows.  As for the hair, I have found that in the past few years, the big bouncy hair has been replaced with bedhead-like curls.

Here’s my recreation, enjoy!

VS Steps 1. Hop in the shower and then wrap yourself in your silkiest robe.  Mine is from Victoria’s Secret (obs!).  To keep your skin hydrated and shiny, apply a moisturizer, I used Victoria’s Secret Amazing, All Over Body Lotion, which I’m not sure if this is still available in stores (it’s not online).  Honestly, any lotion will do.

2. Starting with damp hair, apply a split end tamer, heat protectant, argan oil serum, and mousse.  I used Pantene Pro-V’s Ultimate 10 BB Cream, Shine Serum, Split Fix smoothing end treatment, and Silky Moisture Whip (love this stuff, it makes your hair so smooth).  For the mousse, I used Pureology Silk Bodifier Volumizing Mousse.

3. Blowdry your hair with either a paddle brush or a round brush, making sure to brush the hair up from the roots for added volume.

4. Set your hair in rollers, making sure to use the largest ones at the top of your hair and around your face. My rollers are from Goody and Sally Beauty.

5. Onto the makeup!  First, lay down a face primer (I used Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer SPF 15) and an eyeshadow primer, I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance.  With a fluffy brush apply a matte brown colour to your crease.  The colour I used is called M1 from the Smashbox Full Exposure palette; Buck from the Urban Decay Naked palette is similar.

6. Working on the inner corner highlight of your eyes, apply a shimmery gold colour. I used Smashbox S3, Half Baked by Urban Decay is similar.

7. With a rose gold shadow, apply this over your lid, blending into the gold shade we used as the highlight. I used S4 by Smashbox.

8. With a crease brush (I used a MAC 217), and a purple/gold shimmer shadow, apply in your crease. I used S1 from Smashbox.

9. With a black pencil eyeliner, apply this to your upper lash line, your tight line, and waterline.  Make sure you don’t wing it out, we want this looking smoky.  I used Sothys Paris Khol Liner Graphique in Noir Profound.

10. Curl your lashes, apply mascara, and then pop on some false lashes. I used ELF lashes with Yves Rocher Volume Vertige mascara.

11. With the same purple/gold shade we used in the crease, apply this along your lower lash line.

12. Now for the face! Apply a full-coverage foundation with a Beauty Blender.  I used Covergirl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1 foundation.

13. Apply a concealer that’s a shade lighter than your skin tone under your eye area to brighten it up. I used IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye concealer in Light.

14. To set everything, apply a powder foundation.  I used Make Up For Ever Pro Finish powder with an IT Cosmetics powder brush.

15. Fill in your brows using either a pencil or shadow.  I used the same matte brown shadow from the Smashbox palette.  Usually I use Buck from the UD Naked palette, but this one is equally as nice.

16. With a cream shadow, apply this along your brow bone to highlight the area.  I used M4 from the Smashbox palette.  Virgin from the UD Naked palette or Phloof! from MAC would be great alternatives.

17. Contour your face with a bronzer.  I used Smashbox Bronze Lights bronzer in Suntan Matte (finally hit pan on this!).  If I could go back, I would use a shimmery bronzer solely for the fact that this is a VS-inspired look and I feel like they amp up the shimmer factor in their looks.

18. Apply a pink blush.  I, of course had to go with NARS Orgasm, there really wasn’t any other option.  For the highlight (not shown), I used Benefit’s High Beam along my cheekbones.

19. To set everything and to make me look picture-perfect (this step is optional), apply a lighting powder.  I used my Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette (Dim Light all over the face, concentrating in the T-zone; Irridescent Light over my highlight along my cheek bones and down the bridge of my nose; and Radiant Light over my contour bronzer).

20. For the lips, I chose to keep them nude/pink.  I did pat foundation over them when I was applying my face makeup, to gloss them up I used NYC Big Bold Gloss in Big City Blush, which plumps up your lips (perfect for this look).

21. To set everything, spray your face with a setting spray. I used Victoria’s Secret Face Prime Face Primer and Makeup Spray.

22. Back to the hair!  Take out the rollers and if you like the way your hair looks (voluminous with a bit of curl), you can leave it.  I wanted to recreate that bedhead look, so I took a one-inch curling iron to it and then brushed out the curls.  Spray some hairspray and you are good to go!

VS final 1 VS final 2 I hope you enjoyed this look and let me know if you will be tuning in tomorrow night for the glammest TV event of the year! Kisses, xoxo!

Also, want to win some Covergirl and other P&G beauty products?  Enter my 12 Days of Beauty giveaway, as well as my Philosophy giveaway, ends today!!

Note, this post contains various products sent by PR.  The NYC Big Bold Gloss was sent as part of the Influenster Maple Vox Box.

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Smooth operator: Covergirl Smoothers BB Cream

Covergirl title If you are like me and wear a full-coverage foundation six out of seven days of the week, you like giving your face a bit of a break every now and then.  I have pretty good skin to begin with (thanks Clarisonic and Clinique… and my mom and dad, I guess…) but I still like having a bit of coverage to make sure everything is even.

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past two years, BB creams are (were?) all the rage, with CC creams now taking their place.  Being the BB lover that I am, I just can’t give up my beauty balms.  Not only are they great for summer (lightweight and contain sunscreen), but they provide that extra bit of coverage that takes me from looking like I just woke up to feeling fabulous.  My HG BB cream is DiorSkin Nude BB Cream, which is like magic is a bottle, but it retails for C$50.  Now I completely understand that $50 for a BB cream, which is essentially a tinted moisturizer here in the western world, is a lot of dough for a face product that isn’t even full coverage.  For those of us who want something similar, but for less money, Covergirl has you covered.

Covergirl’s Smoothers BB Cream answers 10 of your skincare needs, all in one tube.

1. Natural Looking Radiance       6. Blends Effortlessly
2. Sheer Color                             7. Lightweight
3. All Day Hydration                    8. Helps Skin Feel Smooth
4. Improves Skin Elasticity          9. Covers to Help Instantly Improve Skin’s Appearance
5. Broad Spectrum SPF 15        10. Won’t Clog Pores

Because I am naturally fair (read: white as a ghost), I got the colour Fair to Light.  The product is available in three different colours because it’s sheer, so you don’t have to be worried about finding a colour exactly like your skin tone.  The other shades offered include Light to Medium and Medium to Dark.

No makeup With BB Cream

This is the second BB Cream I have tried from a drugstore (the first being Garnier’s Skin Renew), and I do like this product, however, it’s not my favourite.  I would definitely classify this as more of a tinted moisturizer as it provides a little bit of coverage, but not a lot (certainly not as much as the Dior, but I mean, this product costs less than $10).  I also want to note that apparently this was formerly their tinted moisturizer; I guess Covergirl just wanted to jump on the bandwagon and release a BB cream stat.  Compared to the Garnier version (and even the Olay CC Cream), this one didn’t give me that greasy feeling that the Garnier one does, as in I can’t feel myself wearing this.

Eye rehab

I typically only wear a BB cream or CC cream on a Sunday or a day where I’m feeling lazy.  If you wanted to really amp up the coverage, apply a concealer (like Covergirl + Olay Eye Rehab Concealer, which is a CC cream but for your eye area), and some pressed powder over top, and you will be set to go!

with mascara

Overall, I like the feeling of this BB cream; I still prefer the Dior one over this, but I feel like it’s not really fair to compare the two because the price points really justify the products.  If you are looking for something with not a lot of coverage, but with tons of benefits, this is a great choice.

Have you tried Covergirl’s Smoothers BB Cream?   Did you like it?

Also, want to win some Covergirl and other P&G beauty products?  Enter my 12 Days of Beauty giveaway, as well as my Philosophy giveaway!

Disclosure: I am a #BeautyUnited blogger. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events. The opinions on this blog are my own.

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