The fact that I don’t celebrate Christmas means that I often can’t partake in the traditional customs that come with the holiday. No Christmas dinners (although my dad’s birthday does fall on the 24th so we go out anyways), no festive tree, and no bright lights outside my place.
I always get so jealous every year with the super cute advent calendars filled with chocolate, and although I don’t actually need the extra calories, I just love the idea of getting a treat a day. Well, this year, I’m gonna celebrate with the rest of you, calorie free, with Ciate’s Mini Mani Month.
This fab advent calendar is filled with 24 nail art minis from the British varnish brand. The set includes 18 Paint Pots, two Caviar Luxe, two Caviar Pearls, one glitter, and one sequins, plus a funnel. Each little “window” also features either a quote or inspirational message.
This is the first time I have tried Ciate polishes (I bought my bestie the sequins set last year for Christmas), and it’s a good thing that you get a polish a day because that’s about how long they last before they start to chip. When Ciate says you can “change your polish every day of the month”, they mean it. The colours are gorgeous and I really like how they apply, but the wear on them isn’t very good, especially the caviar and glitter (that started to come off less than a day later). I have found that Ciate’s products are great for special occasions where you want nice nails for a few hours; definitely not the best for long wear.
Bad stuff aside, I do actually think this calendar would be a fabulous gift as it’s literally the one that keeps giving! You get a nail polish every day for 24 days. Okay, they are minis, but seriously, have you ever finished an entire bottle of polish (I haven’t, unless you count base and top coat). Ciate polishes are pretty expensive on their own, so the fact that you get 18 of them, plus six textures for accents, for C$69 (a $216 value) is a really great deal. And, you get the novelty of the whole advent calendar thing.
Had to post this, being a magazine editor the typo on Marilyn Monroe really got to me…
Amazing Gracie with Cupids Arrow Caviar Pearls
Pepperminty with Twinkle Toes Glitter
If you couldn’t get your hot little hands on the Benefit Advent Calendar, this is a great alternative. Or, if you just love nail polish (like me… re: hoarder), this is a set that can’t be missed.
Will you be getting a polish a day with Ciate’s Mini Mani Month?
Please note, this set was sent by PR. All opinions are my own.
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If you are like me and go through clothes like a Kardashian marriage (sorry, had to), then you find yourself purging your closet every few months. Usually I will just donate the clothes to charity, but there are some items that I feel like I spent way too much money on to just give away.
Enter consignment shops. I have definitely looked into the idea of reselling my clothes at consignment stores, but the process is just too much of a pain. At the stores around me, you have to meet with the owners, and they only take certain labels, and at certain times of the year. Plus, I find the return you get isn’t really that much (I think on average, they keep at least 40 per cent of the selling price). I have longed for a Canadian version of Posh Mark, an app and website where anyone can post items online, sell them, and then ship them (pre-paid from the site) to their new homes. Enter Trend Trunk.
Trend Trunk is an online consignment store for Canadians. The site launched in the summer and is a social marketplace where you can buy, sell, and donate new and pre-loved fashion items in a super easy way. The best part about the site is that they manage the payment and shipping; when one of your items sells, the seller receives a prepaid/preaddressed shipping label in their email, simply print, pack and ship. Also, unlike regular consignment stores, you get 80 per cent of the purchase price (Trend Trunk keeps the other 20.. hey, they gotta make some dough too!). Trend Trunk also offers the choice to donate up to 100 per cent of the net sale to any charity in Canada, which will garner you a tax receipt for the value (total win-win!).
Sounds sweet, right?! So I gave it a try this weekend and posted a couple items that I have been meaning to sell but just too lazy to deal with an actual consignment store. I was actually going to sell a couple dresses that I have had for a while (and cost me a pretty penny), but when I tried them on I decided to keep them because I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight since I purchased them and they looked really great on. I got my mom to take the photos of me modelling them and then filled out the form online. The whole process probably took me less than half an hour (the longest was just taking the photos – my mom is useless with a DSLR). Now I just sit back and wait for the items to sell. And if they don’t, no biggie, it’s no loss to me because the service is free to use.
Trend Trunk also has an app which is available for both Apple and Android devices, where you can browse items and see how your items are doing. I did download the app, however, I feel like it could use some updates to it because it just doesn’t fit my screen properly… it’s not the nicest looking app, but hey, they are working hard over there! So much so, that if you tuned into Dragons’ Den (the Canadian version of Shark Tank) last Wednesday, you would have seen their founder Sean Snyder strike a deal with Mr. mean, Kevin O’Leary. Unfortunately the deal didn’t go through after filming ended (apparently, less than 10 per cent of the deals actually get finalized), but it was great exposure for the company (I still remember watching when Team Buy was on the show and they are huge now). As a result, they are actually running a crowd funding campaign at the moment to reach $50,000.
The site is still growing, but I would certainly give it a try. It’s free to sign up and use, and who knows, you may find an item you have been coveting for a while but have found it’s too expensive to buy brand new. Trend Trunk is also planning a service to members that have too many clothes to sell but are too busy to manage the sales process (Runway Valet), as well as creating exclusive boutiques for retailers and designers to showcase their brands (The Shoppes at Trend Trunk).
I’m so happy that there is finally an online consignment service in Canada that makes it easy for those of us who have way too many clothes and want to get rid of some of them. I’m not calling anything on the site trash, but for a lack of a better metaphor, one person’s trash is another’s treasure.
Now the fun part, Trend Trunk did get in touch with me to see if I wanted to help spread the word about the site. I am not being compensated in any way for this blog post; I was genuinely excited to find out about the site and share it with all of you. I would have signed up even if I just saw on it someone else’s blog. They were also nice enough to create a page for my readers to get a mystery gift card that you can redeem on the site. Click the link below and enter your email address, after you will receive a Trend Trunk gift card, which has a value of up to $250. Each card has a unique pin code that needs to be redeemed on Trend Trunk in order to find out the value. When a card is redeemed, you can use that value towards any purchase on the site. There isn’t a limit to the amount of gift cards that can be redeemed, however, only one gift card can be used per email address.
Click here to get your mystery gift card to Trend Trunk!
Let me know if you have signed up at Trend Trunk, or even if you are a seller! I would love to see the items you want to get rid of (who knows, maybe I’ll buy them ;)).
Please note, I am working with Trend Trunk for this blog post. I am not being compensated for this post.
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Oh, the holidays. Not only is it a time for some much-needed cheer, but it’s also that magical time when all your favourite brands put out limited edition sets that have you (and your wallet) jumping for joy.
Fresh from Tarte, the Off the Cuff cheek palette is a stunner. I received the Danmari blush palette from NARS a couple years ago, but being the hoarder that I am, I just had to have this one (because you can’t ever have enough blush, right? Right?). I’ve only ever heard good things about Tarte’s Amazonian Clay blushes, so when they released this fab five-colour palette, I thought now would be the perfect time to try them out.
This sleek palette includes four blushes and one bronzer, three of which are permanent colours. Tarte’s blushes are normally 0.20 oz. each, and these are 0.158 oz., so it’s a great value for the money (one full-size blush retails for C$31, the bronzer retails for C$38). For C$50 Canadian, this is a steal of a deal.
For those of you not in the know, Tarte’s Amazonian Clay blushes are billed to last a whopping 12 hours. They are infused with natural clay harvested from the banks of the Amazon River and naturally baked by the sun.
Aside from getting five cheek colours in a ultra-glittery case, the set also comes with an uber-cute Kate Spade-inspired bow cuff (Off the Cuff… get it?). Now usually I’m a but skeptical on jewellery from makeup sets, cause they tend to be a bit cheap, but this bad boy is legit. It’s most likely faux-leather, but the gold bow doesn’t move around, and if I liked the look of chunky cuffs on my arms, I would wear this more often because it totally adds a bit of glam to any outfit.
L to R: Crave (LE), Dazzled, Darling (LE), Dollface, Park Avenue Princess.
Now because I got the set for the products, not the cuff, here’s my opinion on it. Compared to other blushes I have used (Benefit, NARS, etc.), these go on really pigmented and you can go quite overboard real fast. Use a light hand; a little goes a long way. As for the colour selection, I liked the colours that Tarte chose to include as you really get a nice selection to choose from. Feel like a fall cheek? Go with Dazzled. Craving a flushed look? How about Crave? Want to be a nude stunner? Darling is the way to go. Feel like being sweet and romantic? Swipe on Dollface. To bring the look together, contour with Park Avenue Princess. The only thing missing is a highlighter, but heck, I got more than enough of those. I also want to note that Dazzled is the only product in this palette that contains some shimmer (don’t worry, it won’t make your face look like a disco ball), the rest are matte.
Below are swatches of the blushes (I don’t have a heavy hand, I wanted to show you how I would wear them naturally, not pack on the product for the photos); I’m also wearing Park Avenue Princess as my contour in all the photos.
Crave swatched.
Darling swatched.
Dazzled swatched.
Dollface swatched.
Now if you are planning on giving this set to a friend or family member (better check your local store, it’s sold out on sephora.com), might as well throw in some tools that will help them perfect their technique…
The perfect pair-up, the Sephora Cheek to Cheek Blush/Bronzer Duo makeup brush set is the ying to the yang for the Tarte set.
This adorable two-piece set includes purple and glitter blush and contour brushes. The glitter-handled brush set retails for an affordable C$29 and are mega soft, so they pick up colour nicely and blend perfectly. Blush brushes can be quite pricey, and you definitely need a good contour brush to create those perfect hollowed cheekbones, so to get two for the price of one brush (usually, good brushes are expensive), this is a good deal.
Are you getting cheeky this holiday season? Is the Tarte Off the Cuff palette on your wish list?
Please note, this set was sent by PR. All opinions are my own.
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