It’s not even the end of October but I am already thinking of the holidays. To me, there is no other place I would rather be than a mall around Christmas time; the music, the decorations, the sales, and the cute holiday-exclusive items – I love all of it.
Ask any of my friends and they may be inclined to say that I have an obsession with Hello Kitty. I mean, how can you not love her cute little face (fun fact: I’m actually scared of cats).
Anyways, when Sephora brought out their Hello Kitty collection a few years ago I was giddy with excitement because hello, they are my two favourite things combined and sold at one of my favourite stores. I haven’t tried the makeup portion of the line, but instead bought the cute little items that appealed the most to me (the hand mirror and perfume necklace).
Now if you have a friend or family member like me who loves Hello Kitty and makeup, the Hello Kitty Say Hello palette in Wild Thing is the perfect gift. The palette, which has HK’s cute face over top of a giraffe print, has two layers: on the top there are four eyeshadows, and on the bottom there is a blush and bronzer two more larger sized eyeshadows, a brown and a pale colour, perfect as a highlight.
This palette is definitely for someone who loves nude colours or who doesn’t like wearing bold makeup (or even someone just getting into makeup). It features an iridescent nude colour, a shimmery brown, a shimmery green, and a shimmery purple. On the bottom level, Sephora describes the two colours as a blush and bronzer, however, they are more of a highlight and light bronzer. You have to have pretty pale skin to use the darker of the two shades for bronzing.
The pigmentation on these colours aren’t as good as MAC, Inglot, or Urban Decay, however, for the darker colours I don’t necessarily mind that because you can always build up the intensity.
At C$43 this palette is perfect for those who are just getting into makeup, young at heart, or just love nudes and Hello Kitty. Sephora also has two other palettes (Super Fun and Happy Fun) in the Say Hello range, but they both feature lip glosses in the bottom compartment. If you are more of a lip gloss person, I would check those out. I personally like the two powder products because I find lip glosses in palettes are just too messy and sticky to deal with.
If you are looking for a smaller gift to complete the set, or just a cute stocking stuffer, check out the Wild Thing Comb (C$14), which is an oversized wide-tooth comb perfect for your purse or backpack. This is more of a novelty gift (this thing really is huge), but I mean really, who doesn’t need a comb? Plus, this one is uber-cute and would make the perfect little gift for anyone Hello Kitty obsessed (like myself).
What’s on your holiday list?
Please note I was sent these products from PR. All opinions are my honest own.
Like what you read? Check out these related posts:
Halloween is one of the only times of the year when you can get crazy with makeup. I’ve done “pretty” Halloween makeup looks in the past and wanted to spice it up a bit with something different. I found a similar look online through Google Images and it inspired this Queen of Hearts look. I love the dark, smouldering eye juxtaposed with the ace of hearts card on one side of the face.
Here are the steps to create it:
1. Prime your face and apply a foundation all over your face, including over one of your eyebrows (the one the card is going over). I used Makeup Designory foundation.
2. Grabbing the pinkest blush you have, apply this on the apples of your cheeks blending upwards. You can apply this with a more heavier hand than usual. I used NARS Desire.
3. With a black eyeliner, draw an angled rectangle on one side of your face. I used the black colour from the Make Up For Ever 12-color Flash Palette, but any liquid or gel liner would work.
4. Using white cream face makeup, fill in the rectangle. Do this step slowly so you don’t smudge the black. I used a concealer brush to trace along the black line and then a foundation brush to fill it in. Make sure you go over your eyebrows and eyelashes as well. I used the white colour from the Make Up For Ever 12-color Flash palette but you can find more affordable options at party stores.
5. With a white eyeliner, trace your waterline. You want the whole card area to be white. I used a NYX eyeliner in white.
6 & 7. With red cream makeup, load up a pencil brush and draw two hearts, one at the top and then one at the bottom on the opposite side. Make sure that the bottom heart is turned upside down. Also, draw one right under your eye. Once you have the hearts down, grab your black liner and write out the card number you want. I chose the ace of hearts. I used the red colour from the MUFE Flash Palette but you can use either red cream makeup from a party store or even a red lipstick or liner. I also set the card with setting powder after everything was drawn on and filled in.
8. Moving onto the other eye, prime it with an eyeshadow primer then apply a dark coloured cream eyeshadow. I used Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe.
9. With a dark-coloured eyeshadow, apply this all over the lids. Then, using a fluffy crease brush, blend the crease area. I used Creep from the Urban Decay Naked 1 palette.
10. Using a cream eyeshadow, apply this to your brow bone. I used Virgin from the UD Naked 1 palette.
11. Grabbing that dark cream eyeshadow, apply it along your lower lash line.
12. Load up your pencil brush with the dark eyeshadow, apply this over the cream product on your lower lash line. Then, with a black eyeliner, line your waterline. I used Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in black.
13. Curl your lashes then apply a volumizing mascara. I used Rimmel London’s Volume Flash ScandalEyes mascara.
14. Apply the most daring lashes you can find to your eyes. I used Sephora-brand false eyelashes in Showstopper.
15. Using thinner lashes, apply these along your lower lash line. I used Ardell lashes in Babies Black. You could also use individual ones for more control.
16. Using a highlighter, line under your eyes and blend to really make that eye stand out. I used It Cosmetics Brow Power Lift, the pearl side.
17. Moving back to the card side, use either a concealer or matte highlight and trace around the card to make sure the lines are clean. I used the matte side of the It Cosmetics Brow Power Lift pencil.
18. Almost done! For the lips, use either a nude lipstick or a concealer to take all the colour out. I used MAC Myth.
19. With either red cream makeup or a red liner, make your lips look fuller and tighter and then fill them in. I used Make Up For Ever 12-color Flash Palette in the red colour, but any bright red liner and lipstick would work.
And that’s it! If you wanted to get really crazy with this look, you can apply a white-coloured contact (like these) to your eye on the card side.
Happy Halloween!
Also, don’t forget to enter my It Cosmetics Brow Power and Brow Power Lift giveaway! Ends today!
Like what you read? Check out these related posts:
I was never a big runner until recently.
For the past six years, I have had easy access to gym facilities, either through my university gym or a fitness facility membership. Last November I became certified in Group Power, an hour-long strength-training class that I teach anywhere from two to four times a week. Now I typically workout five to six days a week (I always take off Fridays and Saturdays, unless I teach those days), but have found that a gym membership was becoming too expensive considering that I only use it to use machines probably two times a week, down from the six that I was using it back before I became certified.
If you are going to make the plunge and get a gym membership, I have always believed in utilizing it to its full advantage. I get that life is busy, but I have always found time to stop by the gym to get at least a half hour of cardio in. For $60 a month, you better believe that I took full advantage of the facility.
I didn’t bother to renew my membership this past July because it wasn’t worth it to me anymore. When I’m not teaching Power, I have taken up running outside because not only is it a great form of cardio exercise, but it’s free. Now if it was between running on a treadmill or outside, I’m a bit torn. On a treadmill, you are going at a steady pace on smooth ground. When you run outside, the speed at which you are going varies, as does the terrain. On the plus side, it’s a more interesting run compared to a treadmill, and you aren’t watching the time.
When I run, I always make sure I’m wearing my Nike Free Run +3 with the Nike Sensor activated. The sensor is connected to my iPhone via the Nike+ app which tells me how fast I’m going, the time, how many kilometres I ran, how many calories I burned, and more. Once I’m done my workout I send it to my profile online which tracks my progress. I am obsessed with this app; it’s a great way to keep track of your stats and compare yourself to others. It’s almost like playing a video game, to be honest. I always feel such great accomplishment when I track my results and it’s nice to see how I did compared to other days which have the same workout. If you want something similar for free, download Map My Run, which works the same way, except instead of a sensor it uses GPS technology.
Now I’m not a crazy runner and haven’t been in any marathons (yet!), but I do have a few tips for those who want to take it up.
- Start slow – Don’t think you are going to be able to run 5K the first time you start out. Heck, don’t even think you may be able to run 10 minutes straight the first time you hit the pavement. A good way to build endurance would be to stagger your workouts, start off with a five minute walk, then run for a minute and then walk for a minute and keep doing that for about half an hour. There is an app which will help you with this, it’s call 5K Runner.
- Pace yourself – Go slow, there is nothing wrong with a jog. If you are jogging, rather than sprinting or running, you can most likely go longer before slowing down to walk.
- Get in the zone – the second I start to think that I should slow down, I start feeling the pain and I feel like I have to stop. To shush that voice in your head, play some good tunes; stuff that is motivating. I like to feel the music.
- Break up your runs – I have done 5K both running straight and running with a few short walk breaks in-between. If you are doing an interval cycle, you work your body more because your heart rate slows down, so when you start running again your body is working harder, thus burning more calories. Plus, who doesn’t like a break every once in a while?
With winter coming up here I’m going to have to find a place to run inside but once spring hits, I’m hitting the pavement hard once again.
Do you have any running tips?
Also, don’t forget to enter my It Cosmetics Brow Power and Brow Power Lift giveaway! Ends Monday.
Like what you read? Check out these related posts:
It’s not even the end of October but I am already thinking of the holidays. To me, there is no other place I would rather be than a mall around Christmas time; the music, the decorations, the sales, and the cute holiday-exclusive items – I love all of it.
